Always on the Outside Looking In
by mrsdoasyouwouldbedoneby
Summary: The relationship of Ronon & Jennifer from the time that they met to the present. Mostly tags to episodes. Ronon/Keller and a little bit of John/Teyla.
1. Accidental Meeting

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

_A Tag to Echoes…_

"_If I'm reading this correctly, this is the training room. Cool… I'm liking this whole sensor thingy. A tiny bit creepy… feels like I'm a cyborg. Next thing you'll know we'd all have x-ray vision… wouldn't that be the coolest?!"_ Dr. Jennifer Keller thought. Two weeks fresh and still unable to navigate through the halls of Atlantis. She's seen most of the important rooms already. Including the botany lab. Even met Dr. Katie Brown. Sweet girl. _"Wonder what she sees in Dr. McKay… that man needs to see Dr. Heightmeyer_." She saved the gym for last… especially since it seems like it's the only room that is never empty. _"Carson says that Colonel Sheppard and his team always use it… well except for Dr. Mckay… shocker."_

"_Hmmm… finally empty."_ As she steps into the room, Jennifer accidentally stumbles over something… or rather someone. "Holy crap!"

"What the…?!" Says the now moving rock.

"Oh my god… I am so so so sorry. I didn't see you there. Let me get the light… Shit! Shit! How the hell do I turn the light on?!" She nervously looks for a switch, unfortunately she's on Atlantis and switches are different here.

"You should've turned it on as soon as you activated the door, then you would've seen me sitting there." Growled the moving rock.

This infuriated the doctor. _"How dare he condescend me?!"_ Jennifer turns around and says "How was I suppose to know that someone would be sleeping in here?! It's a gym… not a lounge!" And as soon as she says that, the lights turn on. Her face mere inches from a linen covered chest… and oh what a chest. She lifts her chin to look at the face of the man standing in front of her. "_Whoa!"_

Ronon looks at her from head toe and back again. _"It's her."_

**Flashback to 2 weeks ago:**

_Sheppard and his team walk through the Stargate._

"_Dude? What's that?" A puzzled Ronon asks Sheppard._

"_It's a slang word… you know what slang means, right? Informal… uh…"_

"_Yeah, I get it… like an expression." Ronon suggests._

"_Yeah, yeah… you've seen some movies by now… well that's how you use it." Sheppard replies._

"_Colonel Sheppard, I'd like for you and your team to report as soon as possible in the conference room. We need to wrap this up so that you and Rodney can help me debrief the new arrivals." Elizabeth Weir says as she stands on the balcony in the control room. _

"_Sure… it won't take too long. Teyla apparently knows one of the leaders of Pelion. So it went smoothly." Sheppard says with a smirk._

_New arrivals mill around the control room, some checking the controls that are so alien to them. Others, watching Sheppard and his team with interest. One in particular catches Ronon's interest._

"Melena? It can't be…" _Ronon thought. He keeps staring, willing her to turn around. And as though she hears his thoughts, she does. But it's not her. Just someone almost like her. But definitely not her. "Sheppard, are they new marines?" He asks, not taking his eyes off the girl. She seems so out of her element. She's looking around, but oblivious to the SGA team that had just arrived through the stargate._

"_Nope. Mostly technicians. A few doctors. Oh and a new cook! The Daedalus dropped them off today, along with some more supplies. Popcorn! Teyla, popcorn!" Sheppard says excitedly._

"_I hope they got my new pillows and sheets. My allergies are acting up. I need to change them right away." Rodney complains. "Being on the water causes so much humidity, therefore causing dust mites to rapidly multiply… next thing you know, molds!! Rodney frantically explains to Ronon, then Teyla since Ronon seems to be ignoring him even more at the moment._

"_She's not gonna last." Ronon unconsciously says out loud._

"_Who's not gonna last?" Teyla inquires._

"_Huh? Uh… nothing. He denies. And wonders why he's being silently hostile towards the blond newcomer._

_Teyla follows Ronon's gaze and settles on a pretty blond woman who seems so fascinated with everything in the control room. Even gets her hand slapped a few times for being overly curious._

**Back to the present:**

"I fell asleep." He mumbled.

"What, training marines getting too easy and boring for you?" She replied.

"I was meditating. Fell asleep. It's not for me."

"That's what I thought, too, the first few times I tried yoga." She says as the tension in the air slowly dissipates. "I was thinking too much, I couldn't concentrate, and was tired at the same time… the music they played and the absence of light made me sleepy. One of the very few times I can actually sleep. But I got over it and learned to just let go."

"Yoga?" A frown forming on Ronon's already confused face. "What's yoga?"

"You know… yoga. India. Meditation. Shiva. Karma. Yoga. Geez! What planet are you from?!" A frustrated Jennifer throws her hand up in the air.

"Sateda." Ronon answers proudly, as he straightens up and crosses his arms across his massive chest.

"Oh. Ooooh. Ronon Dex. Right?" Guessed a blushing Jennifer. The tension's back.

"So you've heard about me?" He arrogantly asks. The left corner of his mouth lifts just a tiny bit. "What'd they say?"

"Oh that you and Dr. Mckay are the worst patients in the city. Him being psychosomatic, and you, refusing to let anyone treat you unless it's Dr. Beckett. A whiner and a growler, Rodney being the former, and you the latter." She retorts.

"Sounds about right." Ronon says as he steps forward, forcing her to move aside, and leaving her to wonder as he walks down the hall. His answer, a surprise to her.

"_What's his problem?" _She thinks to herself.

TBC.


	2. A Change of Heart

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

_A Tag to Irresponsible…_

"He's invincible. Like a superhero? Superman?" Jennifer asks with a chuckle. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Well my fellow Athosians spoke really highly of him. Apparently he's fought with a number of warriors all at the same time, and has even killed a number of Wraith warriors, too." Teyla says. She also adds "They're quite taken with him. He regales them with stories of his battles, as well."

"Sounds like someone we know." Sheppard mumbles. "But we do have to go and check it out. He might be able to help us out. Maybe be a part of Atlantis. Ronon actually thinks he might be from Sateda."

"Of course he does!" Snorts McKay. "Just coz he can still stand even after 3 stun blasts, doesn't mean that everyone else from his planet are the same."

"You know, Rodney, that actually sounds like you put Ronon on a pedestal." Jennifer teases.

"No, I do not!" He denies. "The man is primitive, thick-skinned and covered in hair. Just like a Wookiee. He's exactly like Chewie, large, hairy and armed to the teeth."

"So if he's Chewie, then that makes me Han Solo then, huh?" Sheppard says in between bites.

"Is that the movie with the princess and her hair?" Teyla asks.

Jennifer chokes on her water a bit and smiles. "Hair? Ah, yeah, the buns. Princess Leia. I wanted to be her when I was little. My dad…" She pauses as Ronon drags a chair and plops down at the end of the table in between her and Teyla. Gets flustered and doesn't even remember what she was saying. _"Shit!"_

Teyla notices this and saves her by asking "You were saying Dr. Keller?"

"Oh. Um, where was I?" She asks, blushing.

"Your dad." Sheppard offers.

"Yes, my dad. He bought me Star Wars toys. He didn't know what to get a little girl. I didn't really know what to do with those toys so I traded with my next door neighbor. His books for my mechanical toys." Jennifer finally says.

"You do know that those toys are actually collectibles now, don't you?" McKay says, obviously frustrated.

"I was 6, Rodney. How could I have known? Besides, I wanted his books. In fact I still have them. I even brought them with me here. Grimm's Fairytales. I love fairytales." Jennifer says, her eyes glazed over, making it seem like she's in a faraway land.

Surprisingly, Ronon comes to her defense. "Yeah, what's wrong with books? You keep claiming that you're so smart and all, where do you think your knowledge comes from?"

Teyla smiles knowingly at this. _"Ronon has been surreptitiously glancing at Dr. Keller since he sat down. He's been acting strangely ever since she arrived. Hmmm… Dr. Keller is always nervous around him. But then again he does that to everyone in the city… most especially the women."_

"Don't get me wrong, I love books, too. But I was born smart. Okay? And that's not the point." Rodney retorts. "She gave away Star Wars Toys! Classic ones. I'm guessing you never even took them out of their packages."

"Well yeah…" Jennifer Keller says as she looks around the table. Wondering why it was such a big deal. Apparently Colonel Sheppard agrees with Dr. McKay since he's shaking his head as she says this.

"So what's so wrong if it was still in the package?" Ronon asks, the subject obviously interesting to him.

"_Or so he pretends to be. Normally, Ronon would just either nod or shake his head at John and Rodney's silly conversations. Today it's different. Seems like he's trying to dig for more information about the doctor's life on earth."_ Teyla finally speaks up and says "Rodney, did it not occur to you that maybe as a child, Dr. Keller might have preferred dolls to mechanical toys?

Ronon actually looks at Jennifer, seemingly interested at what her answer might be. Jennifer turns to look at Teyla, obviously embarrassed to have been caught staring and says "Actually I didn't want dolls either… that's why my dad thought of getting me little boys' toys."

Ronon didn't miss that blush. _"Her face is red all over and creeps down to her neck… she's probably even red underneath that sh… shit! What the hell am I thinking?!"_

Ronon's demeanor towards Jennifer starts to change. "What's wrong with you? Every kid I knew wanted to play with toys." As he's saying that he gets up to leave the table and doesn't even bother to excuse himself. Leaving everyone baffled at his behavior.


	3. Private Thoughts

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

_A Tag to Tao of Rodney…_

"You know, I don't get it, Ronon. You have all these women drooling all over you, but you haven't asked any one of them out." A puzzled Rodney states. "Last year, yeah, sure… I understand, almost everyone was afraid of you. But this year should be different, shouldn't it? I mean they all trust you now."

Rodney and Ronon walk down the hall towards the mess. Rodney obviously irritated with all the thoughts he's been hearing. Especially with most of the women that they come across with. Their thoughts all directed to Ronon and his physique.

They get to the mess hall and Rodney is overwhelmed by all the thoughts and conversations he can hear.

"_I hope Dr. Weir got my request to transfer to Colonel Sheppard's team."_

"Do you think he and Teyla are doing it?" Whispers a scientist from the far corner of the room.

"I dunno. Teyla and Colonel Sheppard… now that is a lot more possible." A cute brunette lab technician whispers back. "Besides, it'd be a shame if he was seeing anyone, especially Teyla. Then we'd never get a chance."

"_Maybe I should go up to him. God, I'd just make a fool of myself. I wouldn't even know what to say."_

"_Oh my god, there he is. He is just so hot. Look at that ass. The things I could do with his…"_

"Okay, you know what, ladies, HE IS NOT A PIECE OF MEAT!" Rodney screams. He throws his hands up in frustration, shakes his head and walks towards the buffet table. The people present, confused at his outburst.

"What…?" Jennifer starts to ask from behind the both of them, as she's throwing away her leftovers.

Without turning around Rodney finishes her sentence "…was that all about?" Lifts an eyebrow to confirm then continues with "Women and Ronon, what else?" He walks off towards an empty table. Ronon shrugs and follows him.

He sets his tray across Rodney and starts to dig in the moment he sits down. But occasionally he'd glance towards Jennifer's direction, who was still standing by the buffet. A tiny crease on his forehead forming as a marine approaches her.

"_What does he want?"_ Ronon wonders. He recognizes the new marine. _"Lt. Tyler. Cocky bastard. He's a bit touchy. Is she blushing?"_

"Aha! That's it!" Rodney exclaims as he snaps his fingers. Ronon whips his head towards McKay and lifts an eyebrow. 'That's why you haven't asked any of those girls who are throwing themselves at you!" He whispers excitedly. "It's the new doctor! I have to admit, she's a bit cute. A little feisty, but then that's what you like, don't you?" Rodney obviously proud of his new discovery, rewards himself with the bowl of Jell-O from Ronon's tray.

Red faced, Ronon growls out "Can't you turn it off? Your hearing? You can't just listen to anyone's thoughts. It's an invasion of our privacy!"

"Look, if I knew how to turn it off then I would've done it by now. I wouldn't have to listen to all these women gushing about you. I don't want to have to bear Radek's endless prattle! Or walk by the living quarters and have to hear one more 'O_h god! Oh god!' _or _'Who's your daddy?!'._ Rodney embarrassingly admits. Puzzled, Ronon just shakes his head and takes another bite off his sandwich.

"Hey, but in exchange for you being my bodyguard today…" Rodney says with an arrogant smile.

"I'm not…" Ronon starts to say.

"… My bodyguard, yes, yes… but you sorta are. I mean you've been following me around all day." He points out. "Anyway, since I'm feeling generous, I can read her mind for you. See if she likes you back."

"McKay… leave her alone…" Ronon says, but Rodney hears differently, he can sense that Ronon's curiosity is a bit piqued.

"Oh… don't worry. She's actually just blushing from embarrassment. He's overly flirting with her and she's uncomfortable with his attentions… she's contemplating whether she should just walk away or slap his hand from her arm." Rodney relates to Ronon. As he's saying this, Ronon's gaze narrows and starts to get up from his chair. Rodney grabs his arm and says "I think she can handle this one herself, He-man. You'll do more damage if you step in."

Jennifer artfully takes Lt. Tyler's hand off her arm and walks away, as she passes Rodney and Ronon she silently prays _"Dear god, I hope Ronon didn't see that. He must think I'm such a flirt now… not that he'd even care."_ She walks out of the mess hall intent on getting back to the infirmary.

"So, wanna know what she was thinking just now when she passed us?" Rodney asks Ronon.

"Nope. You should mind your own business McKay." Ronon halfheartedly says. Wanting and not wanting to know what she really thought.

"_Hmmm… interesting. He's scared. Ronon is actually scared of what she thinks of him. That's something new. I should just tell him. Or better yet, I can hold this over his head. Bribe him and stuff."_ Rodney decides with a satisfied smile.

TBC.


	4. Hostile Encounter

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

Note: Just a quick reply to bailey1ak: I'm glad you like the chapters. And I'm also glad that you noticed how Teyla plays a big part in every chapter so far. I've always believed that in every team you have different personalities. Sheppard, the leader; Rodney, the brains; Ronon, the muscle; and of course Teyla... the heart of the team.

_A Tag to The Game…_

"Who's Lt. Col. Carter?" Ronon asks after they step through the stargate.

"She belongs to Sg-1. She served under Major General O'Neill. You know him." Sheppard answers Ronon.

"Yeah, him. He's cool. Isn't he why you're here?"

"Well him and Elizabeth. I was actually just flying him to Antarctica. Completely accidental… sat on the chair and voila. So it was really Elizabeth. But yeah, he's cool." Sheppard agrees, and with a grin, adds "Ah but Lt. Col. Carter. McKay actually convinced himself that she's in love with him. To be honest, I've heard rumors about her and the General."

"They are not involved. They're both in the military, so regulation prevents them from…" McKay quickly explains but is cut off by Sheppard.

"That's why they're called rumors… it's either true or not. If the rumors are true, then it must be a secret. We'll never know. But that's not the point. The point is that McKay has delusions of Grandeur." Ronon's expression prompts him to explain. "Rodney thinks that he's got a chance with her. See, that's why all the women in Geldar have short blonde hair. Samantha Carter has short blonde hair."

"Rodney, I thought you like Dr. Katie Brown?" Teyla asks Rodney.

"Maybe he found out that she realized he's not worth the trouble." Ronon suggests with a smirk.

"Oh, ha ha ha! Laugh it up fuzzball! Do you really want to know what You-know-who thinks about you?" McKay threatens. And Ronon stops dead on his tracks.

"Hey! That's my line, CP30!" Sheppard jokingly yells, and turns around, obviously curious. "Who's You-know-who?"

Teyla just smiles, glances at Ronon, and walks towards the hall leading to her quarters, Leaving the men, one confused, the other gloating and another simmering. As she's headed down the hallway she runs into Jennifer, whose head is bent down looking at her tablet. "Speaking of the devil." She says out loud.

Jennifer lifts an eyebrow. "Huh? Oh hello Teyla, when did you get back? I hope everything went well."

"Yes everything is at least better… for now. We were able to convince them to stop warring with each other. But we shall see. It is such an eye-opener, even the tiniest influence can create something as big as that."

"I heard Rodney's _"country" _was just surreal. Images of himself, the technology… Is it true that he was even able to convince them that citrus is evil?" An amused Jennifer asks.

"Yes, it is true. In fact they were even insulted when the Hallonan's sent them a basket of citrus fruits. It was somewhat funny. We were actually just talking about how the Geldaran women looked a lot like Lt. Col. Carter." Teyla tells Jennifer. "Very beautiful women to be precise."

Jennifer pales at this new information, knowing full well how Ronon catches every woman's attention here in the city. Except for Teyla. She's got eyes for another.

Her silence is not lost on Teyla. She immediately remedies this by saying "But fortunately, they only worshipped Rodney. Colonel Sheppard and Ronon didn't have to fend them off. In fact, they were ignored most of the time." This little bit of news put Jenifer at ease. "Well I'm off, I need to rest, this day is nothing compared to the times we've been ambushed, trapped and shot at. But being around people who claim that Rodney is their oracle was a bit taxing. I will see you later then, Jennifer?"

"Absolutely. Radio me if you'd like to have dinner tonight." At this, Teyla nods and they go their separate ways.

"_Geez! What the hell am I thinking?! What's wrong with me?! Why am I acting like such a jealous girlfriend. Now Teyla's even starting to notice. The man hardly says a word to me. I actually think he hates me. And why him? Of all the men here in Atlantis, I had to pick the most unattainable one. Charlotte Griffith. Now that's more his type. Tall, chesty and leggy. She's made it clear that they have something going on. Don't want to get in the middle of that. Girls are nasty. They fight nasty. Hair-pulling, biting and eye-scratching. No, no, no, no… umph!"_

"_She's always so lost in thought. I wonder what she could be thinking about. What could possibly be so important?" _Ronon wonders. He grabs her by the waist to prevent her from falling backwards, while she holds on to the front of his shirt. Shocked by the intensity of their actions, and the intimacy of their position, they let go of each other and take a step back. "Doc."

"Ronon, Hey, sorry about that. I didn't realize you were there." Jennifer says as she nervously tucks her hair behind an ear. He's looking at her with so much intensity that she has to look down at her feet. Flushed from head to toe.

"_She's irresistible. Why is she so unsure of herself? Doesn't she know that the men here talk about her, that they want her? She reminds me of Melena. But she's different, too."_ Surprised at his thoughts, he brusquely says "You wouldn't be bumping into people if you watched where you were going. You could run into a brick wall if you're not careful."

Jennifer's head snaps up to look at him. Hurt and anger evident in her face. "Well I beg your pardon then. I didn't know that thinking was against the law!" She bites back. Moving forward, this time, Ronon steps out of the way and lets her pass.

"What was that all about?" Sheppard asks, as he only catches the doctor's outburst and not the conversation.

"How the hell should I know. Women!" And Ronon stalks down to his quarters, one hand in his pocket, and the other scratching his head, not confused over her, but puzzled over his behavior towards the doctor. Not just today… but ever since she arrived.

"_She probably hates me now."_ Ronon thinks to himself.

"You know maybe if you were nicer to her you wouldn't be feeling like that…" Teyla remarks. She had just stepped outside her door when she witnessed the whole thing. Ronon didn't even see her standing there.

"What are you talking about?" Ronon looks at her incredulously. Finally noticing her.

Teyla's eybrow arched. Smiles and says "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Fix it before it's too late."

TBC.

_Note: "Laugh it up fuzzball" was a line from Star Wars for non Scifi fans. _


	5. Role Switching

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

_Tag to The Ark…_

"Dr. Keller, your patient is waiting for you, dislocated shoulder." Marie reminded her.

"Thank you Marie, I'll be right there." Jennifer replies. Gets up and walks towards her patient without looking up from her tablet.

"You do know why you keep on bumping into people, don't you?" A very familiar low voice says to her.

"_Shit! Not again!" _She's managed to avoid him for a few weeks now. She knew that she'd eventually see him around, but today wasn't when she expected it. And today was not a good day either. She was cranky and tired. Lt. Tyler was also a nuisance. He'd invited himself to sit down with her at the mess hall during lunch and had talked her ear off the whole time.

She finally looked up and saw that Ronon was staring at her. And was surprised to see a ghost of a smile on his lips. _"What the hell is his game? One minute he's being nice to me, and the next seems like he's allergic to me or something." _She thought as she shook her head in disbelief. "I'll go get Dr. Beckett for you."

"He's busy with Teyla. So you're going to have to look at my shoulder then." He said with a shrug and slight amusement in his voice.

She sighed in resignation and points to the infirmary bed for him to sit. "Fine!" She said in a clipped tone. Ronon obeys her order, jumps up on the bed and leans slightly forward for her to inspect his shoulder. Jennifer walks over to him and settles in between his thighs, stands on tip toe and gently moves his tunic aside to look at his injury, not exactly touching bodies, but close enough to feel his breath on her neck. They could both feel the heat radiating between them, and she immediately takes a step back, but is surprised to find that his other hand is resting at the small of her back. It felt wildly intimate. But she soon recovers and grabs his wrist and firmly pushes it away.

"There's nothing wrong with your shoulder." She accuses.

"I set it back into place. It still hurts though." He lied. _"I guess Teyla was right. I haven't seen her for weeks, and it wasn't even lack for trying. She's purposely avoiding me. I should probably apologize. But for what?"_

"Very well then." She finally says, and walks over to a supply cabinet. Takes out a sling, ice pack and ointment. She walks back towards him, climbs up on the bed and settles herself behind his right side and puts the ice pack on his shoulder, reaches over in front to grab his hand to have him hold the pack in place. This movement causes him to freeze up since her breasts brush up against his other arm. From behind, she squeezes some ointment on her hands, rubs them together, and waits a few minutes before applying it to his shoulder. She takes the ice pack from him and settles it on a nearby rolling tray. As she sets her hands on his shoulder, she can feel him tense up. She ignores this but thinks _"I really do repulse him…"_

"_She's really good at what she does. She could hate me but still be professional about it. God, her hands feel good. I wonder what her hands would feel like in mine? I bet they'd be tiny and perfect. She smells so good, too. Like baby powder. Not like the other women here, especially Charlotte Griffith… she always wears a lot of perfume, too heavy."_ He let's his eyelids close for a bit, and leans back to press his shoulder against her gentle kneading hands, and sighs at the wonderful feeling. But all too soon, she stops, and fastens the sling onto him. She gets off the bed and stands in front of him.

"That should do it for now. Take this," she hands him the ointment and says, "and have someone," _"Like Charlotte Griffith."_ She thought to herself, "massage it on your shoulder twice a day. Don't try doing it yourself. If it hurts more than you think it should, and I'm pretty sure you know the difference, I'm quite positive this isn't the first time you've dislocated anything, come back so we can look at it again. But in the meantime, no sparring. You can go now." She says curtly.

As she turns to leave he calls out "Can I just come back here to have it massaged?" He asked almost pleadingly.

She shakes her head and replies "Only if none of the nurses or doctors are busy. It's not that hard of a task anyway." Puzzled at how he's looking at her.

"What about you? Can't you do it?" A bit embarrassed by the not so subtle way he asked for _her_ help.

Jennifer walks up to him, eyes hard. "No. You may think that I have nothing better to do than to walk around not watching my step, but I _do_ do things. I'm a doctor. I have patients with more serious injuries." She says in a low but angry voice. Realizing what how it sounded, she calms herself and smoothly adds "Here's a suggestion: Charlotte Griffith. The chiropractor. I'm sure she'd be glad to help. Now, if there isn't anything else…" She points towards the doors.

As he leaves, he thinks "Charlotte Griffith? How'd she come up." And smiles to himself. "She's jealous!"

--

From the other side of the infirmary, Teyla observes the heated exchange. Feeling sorry for both Ronon and Keller. "Those two cannot seem to get along." She says under her breath.

"I'm sorry Teyla, what did ye say?" Carson asks as he looks up from his tablet.

"Oh nothing." She quickly replies, but thinks for a bit. "Dr. Beckett, how's Dr. Keller doing? Is she settling in alright?"

"Jennifer?" Carson asks with a smile. "Why, yes, she is. At least around the infirmary. She's a very smart girl. I personally picked her out when they gave me a list of candidates to include in this expedition last year when Dr. Weir and I were back on Earth. She was at the top of my list. She was unavailable at the time, but as soon as she was free, the SGC put her on a chopper and flew her to Cheyenne Mountain."

"But between you and me, I think she's a bit uncomfortable when she's not in here. She usually eats alone. On her days off she sits at one of the balconies and reads. She doesn't join in any of the team activities. I'm a bit worried. But It's been only a few months." Carson sadly whispers, as he turns to look at Jennifer who's absently putting things away.

"She had lunch with us once." Teyla says but then realizes _"Only once though. That was the day Ronon was acting strange and left the table abruptly."_

Carson looks back at Teyla and shrugs, then walks over to where Jennifer's standing, reaches over and squeezes her shoulder in half greeting and half comfort. Jennifer finally remembers where she is and gives Carson half a smile. They talk for a bit and she walks over to Teyla.

"Hey! So how are you doing?" Jennifer asks. "Do you need anything? Something to read? Drink?"

"I believe I am good for now. John has lent me this book to read." Showing her a Stephen King novel.

"_It_? A bit much. Why this?" Jennifer asks, amused and puzzled at the choice of reading material.

"I am not sure. He said that after I read it, I would be on the "same boat" as he is." She says with a shrug and a grin.

"Hahaha!" Jennifer laughs out loud after realizing his intent. "He has a very good sense and somewhat twisted sense of humor. Maybe I should get you something else to read." She offers again.

"But I think by doing so I will hurt John's feelings. I'm going to stick with this book, but thank you for the offer anyway." Teyla replies with special meaning behind the refusal. She notices Jennifer's expression change from cheerful to almost… longing? "Dr. Keller, how are you settling in? Are you making any friends?"

"Oh good. Quite a few. Mostly the nurses. But yes, I'm really liking it here." She smiles, but her eyes deceiving every word.

"You know, if you ever feel the need to talk to someone, have meals with, or like John likes to call it "hang out with", I'm only a radio away." Teyla says with a grin, but making sure that Jennifer sees and hears the sincerity in her eyes and voice.

Relief and gratitude evident in her eyes, Jennifer smiles "Thank you, Teyla, I would love that."

One of the nurses approaches Teyla with a cup of water and 2 pills to help her sleep. Jennifer starts to leave, when Teyla tugs on her arm and says "He's trying. I've never seen him this way. Give him a chance…" And with that her hand falls away and she's asleep, the pills doing their job all at once.

Stunned, Jennifer walks to her desk and takes a seat. "_Teyla knows. What __**does**__ Teyla know? She herself doesn't even know what's going on. Trying?"_

Hours tick by like minutes, making it seem like the afternoon was so short. She realized she was already off the clock half an hour ago.

As she's walking down the hall towards her room, she can feel somebody lurking around. She clutches her chest as something to the left up ahead suddenly moves towards her. She gasps as the figure looms over her. Then realizes it's the one person she didn't want to see. Ronon.

"Doc."

"Well I didn't bump into you this time. So, please, I'm tired. I don't want to have to listen to you lecture me about watching my step and hurting people and blah blah blah blah…" sidestepping him and leaving him staring after her. He quickly recovers and catches up to her. Walking slightly behind her right side.

"I'm sorry." He says plainly.

His sudden appearance and words surprise her. But she quickly hides it. "Whatever for." She asks sarcastically.

"Everything." He embarrassingly admits.

"_That's it! I've had it!"_ She angrily thinks. She turns around, hands on hips, "What is your problem? What game are you playing? We've never really spoken other than the times you've been rude. So what is it? Is there a bet going on? Are you and Lt. Tyler in on this? Whoever gets me first wins? Him being sweet and attentive, while you use the hard-to-get strategy? Well, you know what?! It's not working!!" As soon as she says this, she breaks off into a run to hide in the safety of her bedroom.

Ronon is too fast for her though. He's at her door before she could even swipe her hand over the sensor.

"No games. No bets. No strategies. And I'm definitely not in on anything with Lt. Tyler. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I've made you so unwelcome. I'm sorry that I've been rude." He bends slightly at the waist to whisper in her ear "Most of all I'm sorry that I've made you hate me." Then he straightens up and walks away. Leaving her rooted to the spot.

TBC.

_Note: For non Scifi or Stephen King fans reading this: Sheppard is scared of clowns. "It" is a novel by Stephen King about a clown. So just put 2 and 2 together. :)_


	6. Kindred Spirits

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

_Note: Thanks to sezjara, now I now what Dr.Watson Name is. So I've updated this chapter._

**Present:**

"Dr. Watson you're doing great. You just need to rest for a couple more days." Jennifer Keller told her patient.

"Dr. Beckett? What happened…?" He asked

"Don't worry about it, just rest." She said, ignoring his pleading look. She turns to Marie, who's been repeatedly asking her to take a break, and finally agrees to it.

She walks out of the infirmary, towards her favorite balcony. The one where you can catch the sun rise. But it's late. And you can see the lights of Atlantis. She has always been fascinated by lights. When she started college in the city, she lived in a small studio apartment. It wasn't the greatest apartment, since it was overrun by college students nearby. Parties almost every night, which prevented her from studying in the confines of her little place. She eventually discovered the roof deck, accidentally unlocked. She fell in love with the city lights immediately. Mr. Freeman, the superintendent, caught her that night. For some reason he warmed up to her and allowed her access to it, even helped her bring up an armchair so that she could curl up while she studied. He died 3 years later, right after she got her bachelor's degree.

Losing Carson feels almost the same as losing Mr. Freeman. Carson was the one who showed her this place. They both played an important part in her life, no matter how short a time she spent with them. Their long talks about home and family. She found kindred spirits in both of them.

From the far corner of the balcony, a pair of concerned green eyes watch her in silence. _"Sheppard said that she's taken over the infirmary without hesitation. Took charge as soon as Carson… I wonder what she's feeling right now. Probably as bad as everyone else, maybe even more." _He guesses, as she sits down on the step and gazes out towards the city, her chin propped up by her knees as she hugs them close. After a few minutes, she stretches gracefully, _"Almost like a cat." _and lays on her back looking up at the now familiar cluster of stars, her head pillowed by her arms.

Jennifer sighs "_Carson…"_

**Flashback to 3 days before:**

"It's fun, I promise!" Sheppard says to Ronon, who looks at him skeptically. "Jennifer, hey, what are you doing here?"

"Col. Sheppard, hi. Just reading, I'll get out of your way." Jennifer quickly stands up as she's saying this, eyeing the golf clubs.

"John." Jennifer's eyebrow lifts. And Sheppard hurriedly explains "Mandatory day off… we're off duty." She nods her head in understanding and smiles, gathers her blanket and the snacks she brought with her. "Care to join us? Jim and I are going to play a little bit of golf, Ronon is really excited to start his lessons, too." He adds with a smirk.

At the mention of his name she nervously glances at the man she yelled at almost a month ago. He seemed a bit bored when they first walked through the doors. Now he looks a bit expectant. _"Of what?"_ Jennifer wonders. "Sorry… John. But I never really got into the game."

"That's okay, Jim can teach Ronon, and I can teach you. It'll be fun." He says again while he wiggles his eyebrows. Right, Ronon, buddy?"

Ronon just stands there with his hands in his pockets, head slightly bent down but eyes on her. She blushes under his scrutiny, shakes her head, smiles apologetically and says "Really, John, I think I should go. But, thank you for the offer. Maybe some other time?" And she walks through the door leaving Sheppard at a complete loss.

"You know, there's something about the doc, I can't quite put my finger on it, but it seems like she either doesn't like me so much or is uncomfortable around me… I dunno, maybe she's into me or something." He smiles and says to Ronon, not within Dr. Watson's earshot.

"What makes you so sure it's you?" Ronon gruffly replies.

Sheppard's eyebrow shoots up, a slight lift at the corner of his mouth (you could almost see a light bulb light up above his head) at the sudden realization of what is actually going on.

--

As she's walking down the hall, she hears Carson call out to her. "Jennifer, how are you doing? How's your day off going?"

"Same like always. Just catching up on my reading. What about you? Any plans for… wait, aren't you suppose to be on the mainland, catching that giant trout you've been talking about?" She asks with a grin.

"Well I still am… but Rodney apparently made plans with Dr. Brown. So I came to see if you wanted to take his place. It'll be fun." Carson replies, his hands clasped together.

"I've had so many offers to spend a day of fun already, and I think I'm just gonna stick with my book. Rain check?" She sheepishly smiles.

"Well, you'll be missing out!" And he adds "But have a good day off anyway."

"Carson," she calls out before he turns the corner "you should ask Dr. Biro." Jennifer suggests with a twinkle in her eye.

You can hear her chuckling as she's about to enter her quarters.

--

A loud explosion wakes her.

"_Oh my god! What was that?"_ She grabs her com and radios McKay. "Dr. McKay, what's going on?"

"Explosion… Dr. Hewston… Teyla…" Rodney replies in broken sentences.

Jennifer gets up from bed and runs toward the infirmary.

--

"Carson, you can't do this alone! Let me help you!" Jennifer pleads with Carson as he's pushing her out the door.

"No, Jennifer." He firmly says, and in a whisper "If anything happens ta me, you, you take over. You're the most qualified." He beckons the marines standing guard. "Get her out of here!"

The guards pull her away. Carson seals the sickbay with his personal code to keep her out. She pushes the guards away, tries the sensor, and when that didn't work, kicks the door 3 times before she gives up. She heads to where Sheppard and his team are waiting, takes a seat and holds her breath.

--

They're watching Carson operate on Dr. Watson. And as soon as Carson is able to pull the tumor out, she's already heading straight for the sickbay, but a strong hand slows her down and then…

Boom

Strong arms enfold her. Protecting her from falling racks and equipment.

"Oh God! Oh God!" She breaks free from Ronon's tight embrace causing him to fall on his back. "Carson? Carson? Carson!!"

Sheppard, Ronon and McKay at her heels. Sheppard pulls her from digging through the rubble, hands her over to Ronon who's ready to help her dig through, but changes his mind when he sees the look on her face. Her hair disheveled from the explosion, cheeks and hands covered in dust, fingers bloody from digging. Her face in total shock. Ronon envelops her within his arms, drags her away from all the commotion.

"I have to help." She starts to pull away, but his hold on her is too tight. "Carson. I can't leave him. He might be hurt."

"We can't do anything right now." He whispers in her ear. "Sheppard has already radioed a team to help with the dig. You have to calm down." He says soothingly. He steers her towards "her" balcony and sits on the step, pulling her down with him. Tucks her under his arm and lets her head rest on his chest under his chin while he strokes her hair.

"We have to do something." Jennifer mutters under her breath. "We have to…"

--

Jennifer moves around the infirmary giving orders like a robot. Oblivious to the arrival of Sheppard and his team. They're there to visit Teyla who's recovering from the shrapnel.

Sheppard asks her if she'd like to attend the memorial. She looks at him with empty eyes and nods. Ronon sees this from where he stands. Concern etched on his face. Teyla, whose arm is around Sheppard's shoulder for support, gently squeezes Ronons arm reassuringly. And quietly says "She'll be fine. She's strong."

--

"I would think that Dr. Keller wanted to help take Dr. Beckett's body home." Charlotte Griffith says suggestively to, Adriana, a lab technician as she's taking a sandwich from the buffet table.

Standing only a foot away from the two most infamous gossips in Atlantis, Marie's ears perk up "If you've seen Dr. Keller lately, she's got a lot on her hands. The previous events have stressed her out so much. She's walking around the infirmary like a zombie trying to get everything in order." Defending Jennifer in a clipped tone. Putting Charlotte in her place. "She's devastated by this whole incident."

Charlotte, face as red as a tomato, stalks off, finds a table full of marines and invites herself to sit with them. Her face swiftly changing to a charming and sexy expression.

Sitting a few feet away from the buffet table are Sheppard and his team. Ronon heard this whole exchange and sees that Charlotte is still obviously trying to make him jealous by flirting with the marines. It still doesn't work. He gets up and follows Marie who's leaving the Mess Hall.

"Marie?"

"Ronon, hey." Marie turns around, not surprised by him since she's the only nurse that he actually talks to and allows to treat him. "What can I do for you? Please don't tell me you've injured one of the marines again." She says jokingly.

"No." He denies with a smile. Then suddenly becomes serious. "How's the doc doing?" He asks in a low voice.

"Dr. Keller?" Waiting for a reply, he slowly nods. "Not good. She's taking this really bad. They were really good friends. Not as good as he and Dr. McKay. But close enough. She's lost a lot of weight. She hasn't been getting enough rest or food. Dr. Weir even suggested that she take some time off but she refused. I'm actually taking these to her." Gesturing at the tray of food she's holding.

Nodding, he asks Marie, "Could I maybe…" looking at the food she's holding "take them to her instead."

Marie, who's always been observant and has been witnessing the chemistry between the two for quite sometime now, smiles and hands the tray to Ronon with a wink. "_Maybe they'll realize now that they're meant to be together."_

"Appreciate it, Marie." He slightly lifts the tray in a gesture of thanks and heads back to Mess Hall to grab a bottle of water.

A smiling Marie walks towards the infirmary to relieve Jennifer for an hour or two.

**Back to the Present:**

She can feel a presence. She opens her eyes, and a shadow looms over her. She sits up hastily, brushing inexistent dust and dirt from the front of her jacket. He settles himself down beside her on the step. They sit there for about ten more minutes, gazing into the horizon. Not talking. Just watching the stars. Focusing on each others' breathing. Each one thinking what to do next.

Ronon finally breaks the silence. "Eat." Setting the tray on her lap, her legs extended in front of her. He pulls out the bottled water from the lower pocket of his pants and sets it between them.

She shakes her head. "I'm not hungry." Lifting the tray to put away, he stops her from doing so.

"You need to eat." He firmly but gently orders her, pushing the tray back on her lap.

With a sigh, she folds her legs underneath her to get comfortable. She grabs the bottle, her fingers brushing lightly against Ronons arm, the contact causing tiny tingles to run up both their arms. They shiver at the same time. Jennifer untwists the cap off of the bottle and drains half of it, then proceeds to concentrate on her food, sets the bottle on the floor at their feet. Noticing this, Ronon reaches for the other bottle in his other pocket and sets it beside the half drained bottle. He then leans forward, settling his arms on his knees for support. With his head bowed down he can catch glimpses of her finishing off her food. He then realized how hungry she really was because in a matter of minutes, she was done.

She sets the tray beside her, grabs the open bottle and washes her food down with it. As she's finishing her water, Ronon straightens, rolls his shoulders, stretches his arms behind him to support his upper body as he leans back.

He watches her with so much intensity, but she's oblivious to this. For the first time since Carson's accident, she's beginning to feel the effects of things. She stretches her legs again in front of her and then bends them at the knees. Her head bowed down, hands on her lap. He sees a tear drop and fall onto her hand. Then another, and another. Her shoulders start to shake uncontrollably. Ronon slowly places his hand at the nape of her neck and pulls her gently towards him. His other hand at her hip.

Jennifer tenses up and then relaxes in a few seconds, overwhelmed by the emotions she had bottled up for days, and hugs his waist from where she sits… half on the step and half on his lap. They stayed that way for another hour. Not saying anything. Jennifer, sobbing quietly while he rubs her back comfortingly, as he cradles her against his body.

TBC.

_Note: This chapter also explains why Sheppard suddenly asks Ronon if he's dating anyone. Sheppard's realization on what's going on with Keller and Ronon is what prompted the question… at least that's how I'm tying this story together. :)_


	7. Feeling Better

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

_Note: So I figured I'd add this since I won't be able to post anything tomorrow, it being a weekend and all. _

_Tag to Submersion:_

"Are you sure you feel okay?" Jennifer asks Teyla.

"I'm quite positive. I've done this before, yesterday was no different." Teyla reassures her. "Besides, I was able to rest for a few hours while the rest of the team explored the station." Discussing the inciden when she tapped into the wraith's mind.

"Okay. But if you feel anything, you have to come back here." And turns to Sheppard who's standing to the left side of Teyla's bed. "Col. Keep an eye on her." She says with a grin, and then turns to Rodney who's sitting on another bed, scratching his arms. She lifts an eyebrow "Rodney?"

"I'm itchy, a bit dizzy, my limbs hurt, and my chest hurts, too. Oh, oh and shortness of breath, rapid increase in pulse..." Showing two fingers trying to look for a pulse. "I think I have Decompression Sickness."

"I highly doubt that, Rodney… you weren't diving underwater. You were at the station and the puddle jumper the whole time so it's unlikely that you'd have decompression sickness. I think it's all psychological." She tells him with a shake of her head.

"You don't believe me? Who's the patient here? You or me?" Rodney says challengingly. "You're making me sound like I'm nuts…"

"I never said that Rodney… and besides just because I said it's "all psychological", doesn't mean that it's bad. I myself have a few quirks. I hate ants, I can't think of them without feeling itchy, but that's just all in my mind, but I still can't stand them." She explains. "I really think this is all in your head. You should get some rest." She rolls her eyes as she turns around to give Sheppard and Ronon a once over.

"What about you guys? You feel anything unusual?" her lips pursed, eyebrow half-cocked, waiting for their reply.

"Nope, I'm fit as a fiddle." Sheppard proudly says as he beats his chest just to prove it.

Ronon just shakes his head 'no', his eyes still on her. She blushes at his perusal. "Okay then," She bounces on her toes, then gives everyone a small smile, "I think we're done here. I need everyone to clear out. I've got Major Lorne's team coming in. Especially you, Rodney. Maj. Lorne is not very happy with you today since he wanted to be on that mission to the underwater station. He was stuck with Dr. Biro for 2 days."

Everyone leaves except for Ronon. She's putting away some supplies when she notices him still standing by the doorway, arms crossed. "Ronon? Something wrong?"

"Nope. Just wanted to, um…" Scratches his head, looks at his feet, then continues with "see how you're doing."

Surprised, and at a loss for words, she soon recovers. "Good. Well… yeah, a little better, I think. Thank you for asking." She says with a smile, her fingers playing with the zipper of her jacket.

"_She does that a lot. When she gets nervous she can't stop her hands and fingers from moving. Tucking her hair behind an ear, playing with a pen or the buttons at her sleeve…"_ He observes, then nods. "Ok. Good." He then turns to leave.

"Ronon," Her fingers on his wrist, just resting lightly. "Thank you." His eyebrow quirks up. "For asking," And then adds "and for being there… that day." He nods again, starts to pull away, but she then encircles his wrist with her fingers, her thumb and middle finger not quite touching. "What about you?"

"Me?"

"Yeah, you." She says with a grin. "I never once asked you how you were – are – doing with this whole thing." She continues expectantly.

He shrugs. "I've seen a lot of people die." He pauses at this. "People close to me. Carson was different, though. He saved me a bunch of times."

He rubs his neck as he thinks about all the times the doctor helped him out. "I owe him a lot." Looks at her hand that's on his wrist, twists it around so that he's holding her wrist, too. Then looks at her. "I miss him." He admits in a voice so low she wouldn't have heard him if he hadn't bent down to whisper it in her ear. With that he pulls away, shoves his hands in his pockets, walks out of the infirmary, and then at the corner of her eye, sees him look over his shoulder to look at her.

TBC.

_Note: Didn't want to make it too long. I wasn't really inspired by the episode, even if it was good… but who am I kidding? I love every SGA episode. But it at least shows the baby steps they're both taking._


	8. Better Me Than Him

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

_Tag to Vengeance…_

Col. Sheppard's team and Dr. Keller are all in Elizabeth's office for an unofficial meeting…

"I've made it mandatory for every Atlantis Personnel to have self-defense training." Dr. Weir announced. "That includes you, too, Dr. Keller."

"But I've never been off-world. I don't think I need…" She begins, but is cut-off by Elizabeth.

"I don't think I need to stress the words 'every' here, Dr. Keller." She firmly puts in, but in a more understanding and gentler voice "Since you're in charge now…"

"That's one more thing I need to talk to you about Dr. Weir…" She flushes in embarrassment from the tilt of Elizabeth's eyebrow. "Sorry, I keep interrupting…" and lifts her palms up as if in surrender.

"As I was saying, you will be going off-world now more often. Not every planet we explore will be safe and friendly." Nodding towards Sheppard. "Just ask Col. Sheppard." She adds with a mischievous smile.

"Huh?" His face all innocent, but his eyes twinkling. "Don't worry Dr. Keller, it's only basic training. It's fun, easy and well, it's good for the body… healthy. Another form of exercise. See McKay," He nods at Rodney. "he started training before we left for our last mission, you can see that he lost one or two pounds already." He adds with a smirk.

McKay just makes a face since his nose is buried in his laptop.

"So just basic training? None of that hard-core stuff that Ronon and Teyla do?" Keller asks.

"Ronon and Teyla? What about me?" Sheppard says disbelievingly. "I'm pretty darn good, too, you know." As he crosses his arms over his chest, looks at Ronon to get some back-up, but changes his mind since Ronon is too busy watching Keller beneath half-closed lids. _"Whipped!"_

"Dr. Keller, there will be a few classes going to be taught by myself, Ronon," Stressing 'Ronon" with a smile. "and martial arts experts. I believe there are Major Lorne, Sgt. Walters, and Lt. Tyler." At the mention of the Lieutenant's name both Ronon and Jennifer tense up. Ronon lifts his head, curious as to what Jennifer's reaction would be.

"I think I'll just stick with your class, Teyla." Ronon visibly relaxes at this and goes back to shutting his eyes. "But I have to warn you, though, My tolerance for pain is not that good." She says sheepishly.

"I'm not worried. I am sure you'll do fine." Teyla says with a shrug.

"Can I just train with you, then?" Rodney speaks up finally. "It's just that…"

"Do you actually think that Teyla will go easier on you?" Ronon suddenly says with a smirk.

Eyes wide, mouth open, Rodney looks at Teyla. She just smiles her secret smile. "Oh lord." He squeaks.

"Okay, people, let's try to get this meeting back on track. One of the reasons I also want these mandatory training sessions is…" Elizabeth rephrases. "well, Dr. Keller, I'm sure you've read the reports on Michael."

"Experiment gone bad. Yes. I'm glad I wasn't here when that happened." She replied.

A crash down below in the gateroom. Elizabeth radio's Chuck. "Chuck what's going on down there." Sheppard already on his feet looking out the glass partition. Laughing at the scene before him.

"Dr. Simpson and Dr. Hays are at it again. This time they're fighting over a new program we just discovered. I think you and Dr. McKay should come down here." Chuck says over the radio.

"Dr. McKay, you heard the man. I'd like everyone else to remain here until I get back. We're not done with this discussion just yet. And Col.," She says jokingly, "Don't touch my stuff." Elizabeth gets up and walks to the door, McKay right behinf her, still working on his laptop.

"So about 'Michael'," Jennifer began, "you ran into him on your last mission, right? I'm sorry Teyla, I wasn't on duty when you arrived at the infirmary."

"Well, you can't be in two places at once, can you?" Teyla says reassuringly. "He did not hurt me. He was planning to do something, though, I do not know what."

"So why the extra security? Training I mean." She asks no one in particular.

"We think he's planning to breed more of those creatures." Sheppard says, as he sits behind Elizabeth's chair, propping both his feet up on the desk. Teyla's eyebrow shoots up at his behavior. Catching this, Sheppard shrugs, but also sets his feet back on the floor. "The Taranian's were peaceful people. He was able to infiltrate their settlement easily. Whenever a team is going off-world, no matter how dangerous or peaceful it is, we can't risk not being prepared." He tries to explain. "Granted, we always have a military presence in each team, but being ahead of the game helps, too."

"Dr. Beckett was almost always needed in our missions…" Teyla starts to say.

Sheppard iterjects "Especially _our_ missions."

"And since you're the new CMO it's only natural that you continue everything he did." Teyla finishes.

Ronon can already guess her reaction to this. Sadness. Uncertainty. Regret.

"See, that's what I've been wanting to talk to Dr. Weir about. I can't be Chief. It's just…" Trying to search for words. "too much!"

"I think you're handling the infirmary very well, Dr. Keller." Teyla guarantees. "The other staff members think so, too."

"And Besides, next to Carson, you're the only one who can actually put Rodney in his place." He remarks.

Silently, she thinks for a while. Her eyes lock with Ronons. It's hard to take her gaze away from him, but she does anyway. "What about Dr. Cole? She was his assistant. She's smarter and more skillful than I am. I'm sure when she gets back she'll want to take the position of CMO."

"Unfortunately, Dr. Cole requested for reassignment. Rumor has it that she feels guilty about what had happened to Carson. She was on duty that day, but she had a headache, so Carson told her to rest and that he'd take over." Sheppard informs her.

Her look incredulous "But that's absurd! Why should she feel guilty over something she couldn't control? I mean…" She breaks off, she just answered her own question. Her question of whether she could've done something more.

Ronon, sensing her troubled thoughts, says "I heard him. I heard what Carson told you before he locked you out of the sickbay. You should honor his wishes. He wouldn't put you in charge without reason."

Jennifer just stares at him. Wondering how he could've heard that.

Points to his ears. "Good hearing." As if reading her mind.

"Well, see, there you go!" A relieved Sheppard says. "Dr. Cole is cool and all, but I remember that she kinda had unsteady hands. Ow!" Earning a slap on his arm from Teyla. They start bickering, eventually ignoring the two other people present in the room.

Ronon Pushes away from the wall he'd been leaning against and sits at the arm of the chair she claimed since they all got there, and tells her in a low voice. "You'll do great, Doc. I'm sure of it." He then leans onto the backrest of the chair, which causes him to tilt to the right, slightly towards her, and rests his arm behind her. He can smell her from where he sits. _"There's that powdery smell again, and something else... mint?."_

She can feel him without touching him. If she moves a little closer she'd have her head on his shoulder. The shoulder she treated once. _"I wonder if he's still having problems with his shoulder. He never came back…"_

"What about my shoulder, doc?"

"_God, did I say that out loud?" _Her eyes widen at the realization. "Oh I was just wondering about your shoulder."

He gives her the most charming smile and says "Pretty good. The ointment worked really well. I forced Rodney to do it for me," His charming smile turns into a wicked one. "since you said you didn't have time to do it anyway." He heard everything she said and knew she felt bad about what she said that day, he couldn't help teasing her.

"Oh! B-but I…" She stammers "I'm sorry, I was really having a bad day and…" She quickly tries to explain but fails to come up with a good excuse.

"It's okay doc, I understand. Besides, it's been a couple o' months already." He says with a shrug.

"Right…" Flushed from head to toe, she starts rubbing her palms on her pants.

"It's really okay, doc." He tells her with a comforting smile. She nods then.

Elizabeth and Rodney walk back in after twenty more minutes. And they continue their previous discussion.

"Dr. Keller, so you'll be joining the class Teyla will be teaching then?"

"Yes. If that's okay with you, Teyla?"

"Why, of course Dr. Keller. You'll be comfortable with my class since I'll be teaching most of the scientists and doctors." Teyla assures her.

"Although," Elizabeth says "there will be times when you will require one on one classes. Your schedule is a lot different from many of the other personnel. This prevents you from attending all the required training sessions. So I think from what Teyla and I figured out…" She adds "we've already assumed that you'd most likely want Teyla to train you – you will have to take private lessons once a month from either…" She looks at the palm held tablet "Lt. Tyler or…" She smiles and looks at the man sitting to her left "Ronon, because Teyla is unavailable."

Simultaneously they respond.

"I'll do it." He says.

"Ronon. I prefer Ronon." She quickly puts in. They both look at each other and then quickly turn away.

Teyla hides her amusement, Sheppard doesn't.

Elizabeth's eyebrows rise questioningly, but then she decides to ignore their unexpected reaction. "So that's settled then. I'll make the announcement, schedules are posted at the gym and the mess. But I still want everyone notified officially if in case they don't take this seriously. Rodney, you know what to do. You're all dismissed."

"Chuck?" He exclaims.

"Or you can do it." She replies, tilting her head to the side.

"But I have more important… Right, okay." And leaves to do as he's told.

Teyla and John hang back to ask Elizabeth what went on with Doctors Simpson and Hays. Ronon, as usual, is already out the door. Jennifer jumps up from her seat and jogs to catch up with him. "Ronon." She calls out. "You don't mind, do you? I mean if it's an inconvenience, I can always just train with the Lieutenant." A look of uneasiness flickers in her eyes.

"No. It's fine. I'd rather you train with me than him." And turns to leave, thinking jealously _"Can't have Tyler hanging around you. Then he'll have a good excuse to touch you."_ Looks back at her and quickly explains "You'll learn a lot faster if I train you, and it'll be more effective." He couldn't help add "He's all tricks and style."

"Thanks Ronon, I really appreciate that, and maybe I can repay you in some way, too." She says as she waves goodbye. "See you later."

Ronon shoves his hands in his pockets, his head tilted upwards lost in thought, obviously thinking about what she just said, knocking Rodney from hi feet. "You know you should really watch where you're going, you could kill someone with those big feet."

Ronon just smiles at that. _"Her habits can really rub off on people. So now what can she do in return?"_

TBC.

_Note: Doctors Simpson, Hays and Cole were actual characters from previous episodes. I don't own them._


	9. Primal Instincts

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

_Note: This takes place right after her conversation with Elizabeth._

_A Tag to First Strike…_

**Present:**

"Dr. Weir, how long before you can appoint a new CMO? I can give you a list of qualified candidates. There are a number of doctors who would jump at the chance to lead Atlantis' medical team. I'm sure th…" Jennifer sighs. "Oh who the hell am I kidding?!" She says to her reflection in the mirror. "She is sooo not gonna go for that!"

Defeated, Jennifer Keller grabs a bottle of peppermint-scented bubble bath and pours it in the tub filling up with hot running water.

She walks out into her room to grab her book, sits on her bed and takes off her shoes and sets it at the bottom of her closet, takes off her jacket hangs it up, then takes the rest of her clothing off and dumps them in the laundry. Her com, along with her radio and watch neatly arranged on her side table. Her routine done, she goes back into her bathroom and takes off her make-up with a cloth, turns off the tap at the tub, tests the water, _"A bit too hot." s_he thinks to herself. So she steps in the shower stall to take a quick shower, dries off and steps in the tub to relax.

She's about to start reading her book when something brown sitting at the edge of the tub catches her eye. She sits up and grabs the cloth. Inhaling the earthy scent coming from the piece of fabric. _"Ronon."_

Jennifer lies back against the tub, shuts her eyes and lets her thoughts drift back to 2 weeks ago.

**Flashback to two weeks before:**

"Dr. Keller, may I speak with you for a moment?" Teyla asks.

"Jennifer looks up at her and says, "Yes, please, Teyla come in." Gesturing for Teyla to take a seat. "What can I do for you? Oh, wait, is it time already? Today's training day, isn't it?

"Not for another 3 hours. But I'm here for a different reason. I'm afraid I won't be able train today. Halling, do you remember him?" Keller nods. "Well he has requested that I come to see my people. I am needed. And I might be gone for a week. So Training will have to wait."

"Oh, well that's quite alright. I think I can wait another week. Trust me, I'm really not looking forward to these sessions. Marie's back has been hurting since the last class more than a week ago." She says.

"Unfortunately doctor, you will have to take private lessons. You've only been to the first session and missed 3 classes already. Dr. Weir has made it clear that you, especially, need to finish with the basics. In 3 hours you are to proceed to the gym." Teyla gets up from the chair and turns to the door, but with a playful smile "Look on the bright side, you'll have your substitute teacher all to yourself" she coughs, "I mean, he will only be focused on you."

Butterflies in her stomach, wheels turning in her head, and her heart beating uncontrollably. "Dear God."

--

3 hours later, Pacing back and forth in front of the gym door is a nervous Jennifer. Dressed in her grey old barely used yoga pants, a pair of sneakers and a black long sleeved crewneck shirt, and a thick hoodie. The door opens, revealing Ronon, who had been waiting for her to begin training. She's oblivious to the open door, keeps pacing, zipping and unzipping her jacket in anxiety.

"Tense?"

She jumps at his voice. "Um, no… yes. A bit. I've missed three sessions. So I'm really far behind… I uh…"

"Are you just gonna stand there?" He asks her in good humor. "You can come in you know, it'll be a lot easier to start if you do."

"Right, right." She smiles awkwardly. Hesitates because his arms are bracing the doorjambs, blocking her way, except for the space underneath his arms. She finally decides to just pass through under his arm. Her action causing him to shut his eyes and savor the familiar powder and minty scent that he catches a whiff of. He turns around to follow her as he swipes his hand over the sensor to shut the door.

"Okay so where do we start." She asks Ronon as she claps her hand once then rubs them together to feign enthusiasm. It doesn't work.

"First, you should start by taking off that heavy jacket," and at the doubtful look she's giving him he explains "you won't be able to move freely in that.

"Oh." Finally comprehending what he's saying. She takes off her hoodie and sets it on the bench. Pulling at the sleeves & hem of her shirt.

"Here." Handing her a bottle of water.

"Thanks."

"Welcome. So what have you learned so far with Teyla? I know you've only been to one session. But knowing Teyla, I'm sure she's shown you the basics." He states.

"Blocks, a lot of defense moves. Um… punches, kicks. But mostly blocks." She ticks off one by one.

Ronon takes her wrist, then subtly slides his hand to hold hers and pulls her to the middle of the room. Still staring at the big hand covering hers, he interrupts her thoughts "Let's continue with the blocks then." He lets go of her hand then walks around her, his arm brushing against hers. Bends down towards his left, his dreads resting on her shoulders for a few seconds, and pulls something from his pocket.

From the corner of her eye she can see him holding a brown linen-like strip of cloth in one hand. She turns her head, a questioning look stamped on her face.

"Close your eyes." He gently commands her then looks around her face to check if she followed his instructions. She gives him a side glance, then quickly shuts her eyes. He smiles at this. Reaches around her to grab the other end of the cloth, lifts it up to her eyes and proceeds to cover them and tie the ends behind her head. "It's all about instincts. Part of defending yourself is learning how to trust your own instincts." He says to her.

"Intuition." He takes a step back, and walks around her in circles. "You have an advantage. You're a woman." And he thinks to himself "_A very tempting woman."_ Then shakes his head. "Woman's intuition. You have that. Use it. It'll come in handy."

As he's circling her, she's following his movement as much as she can. "That's good, you're following my voice." He stops right in front of her, a couple of feet away. "In certain situations, you have to be able to sense things, guess your opponent's next move, next step." He swiftly steps right up to her, surprising her. But she takes a step back, sensing the slight movement in the air. "You're a fasr learner."

"Really?!" Her voice sounding so child-like from excitement.

"Absolutely." He assures her. He grabs her waist and pulls her forward. Her breath hitches as he does this. Positions her arms in front of her as if to block. "Now we practice. Just do what you did just a few minutes ago. Listen carefully. For the slightest sounds, movements. The change in the air. And block my attacks."

"You're going to attack me?!" She squeaks.

"Not really, but I'll attempt to. That's why your arms are up, to cover yourself." He moves to her left. Stomps his feet to her right. Ducks down in front of her then moves around her.

She blocks her left side, then her lower right, steps back and kicks her right foot, then turns around and steps back again. Blocking all attempts.

"Nice. You're even better than McKay." He tells her. Proud that she's taking everything he's teaching her to heart.

Then he moves to the rack at the far side of the room. Grabs 2 bantos rods. Walks back to her and hands her one. "Here."

"What?" Not knowing what he was doing. So he grabs her hand and sticks the rod in her hand and closes her fingers around it.

"We'll use this now." He takes a step back "What I want you to do is to sense my movements. I'm also holding another stick. Listen carefully. If you focus, you'll feel and almost hear where I'm going to try to hit you with the stick…" A crease forming on her forehead "don't worry, I won't hit you. Just try blocking my attacks as much as you can."

This worries her even more, so when he first takes a swing downwards to her right she cringes, and blocks her face. "Okay, see, you have to be alert. You can't always use your arms to block yourself, you'll get hurt either way, that's why you have the bantos rod in your hand. It'll help counterattack the move." He explains to her as he pats her shoulder to calm down.

"Let's start again."

The first few times she fails. But after thirty more minutes she starts to get the hang of it and is able to concentrate and find the sounds that she has to listen for. Hitting his stick with hers, sometimes even flipping his to the ground. They weren't even stationary anymore. First she was able to turn around slowly in place while he circled her, then they were all over the mat.

They had worked out so much that the air seemed so stuffy from the heat that was radiating from their bodies. She'd taken her long-sleeved shirt off, revealing a tanktop that had ridden up over her midriff, while he'd taken off his tunic, leaving him bare-chested. They were hot and sweaty. Not just from training, but from something else they both feel.

She was still blindfolded when he stepped up to her to attack from above, she stops his bantos rod from coming down on her with her own. Ronon lets a puff of breath rush out onto her face, and she takes the blindfold off. They stand there for 2 minutes staring at each other before the door swishes open, Lt. Tyler and his class, open-mouthed at the scene before them. Realizing that they had an audience, they reluctantly move apart.

She turns to grab the water bottle, takes a swig, sees that Ronon had already emptied his, offers him hers. He takes the bottle. "Thanks." Drains it. He bends down and grabs her jacket and helps her put it on one arm at a time. Making sure that the ogling Lieutenant sees the intimate action.

They move to leave. "All yours." Ronon calls out to Tyler, throwing the bantos rods towards the lieutenant. Tyler almost drops them. Ronon's hand resting lightly at the small of her back. Ushering her to move through the doors.

"Well that wasn't so bad, was it?" He asks Jennifer with a smile.

"No. It was actually quite fun. But I doubt if I'll be able to use that when I get to go off-world." She tells him.

"That's why you need to keep on training. Today was just the first step. The next ones will be throwing punches, kicking and any fighting moves you can think of. There's no real system to it. It's just fo…"

"Following my instincts…" She finishes for him. "You know, I think that's the best advice anyone has ever given me." Smiling up at him.

"Well I'm glad I'm the one to give it to you." He says with a bow of his head.

Looking at her watch she realizes it's already late. "Wow, it's already 9. I think I'm gonna hit the shower. I think I smell like gym socks right now." She crinkles her nose.

"No you don't."

"That's probably coz you stink, too." She says with a smile. His eyebrow half-cocked. "I'm kidding." She quickly puts in.

"I know." He whispers in her ear. "But _I_ wasn't when I said 'you don't'. You still smell like baby powder and mint." And then he walks away, leaving her gaping at him.

"Ronon…" He turns to look at her. "I meant what I said about doing something for you in exchange. It's only fair."

He nods at that and replies "I haven't forgotten. I've already got stuff lined up for you to help me out with." Smiling a secret smile, then turning to leave again.

"Oh, and Ronon." Holding up the strip of cloth. "You forgot your blindfold."

"Keep it. You'll need it. Trust me." He says with a wink." Then he disappears arount the corner leaving her stunned.

**Back to the Present:**

"_I wonder what he meant by that." _She ponders. "Oh well."

--

_Standing in the middle of the gym, lights turned off, a candle lit at each corner of the room. Ronon's circling her. She's watching his every move. He stops behind her. Puts his hands on her shoulders, slowly sliding down her arms until he reaches her wrists. Encircling both wrists with one hand, he reaches around her to take the cloth which is tucked in the front of her pants. He pulls it out slowly, the back of his hand slowly caressing her exposed skin, sending shivers up her spine. Rubbing her wrists to soothe the sensitive spot then wrapping the fabric around them. Not too tight to be uncomfortable, but good enough that she can't take them off. He moves around to her front, towering over her._

_The game was to avoid being overpowered by him. It was going to be difficult. But at least challenging. He moves to her right, then her left. He does this repeatedly. She was able to avoid every move. Dodging his jabs. Ducking left, and then right. Jumping away from him._

_Then he does something unexpected. He swiftly grabs her by the waist and pulls her against his body. Looking up at him, her breath coming in short puffs. His face slowly descends. His intent evident in his eyes. His eyes playfully twinkling. Her eyes slowly drifting down, thrillingly anticipating the contact they were both going to experience in a matter of seconds._

"_Dr. Keller, please come in…"_

_--_

"Dr. Keller, please come in. You're needed at the infirmary for standby." A voice says on the radio.

"_Shit!"_ Jennifer wakes up to the intrusion. _"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!"_ Gets up from the tub, "Aaaah!" She screams in frustration.

She pats herself dry and gets ready to dress. Cursing whoever interrupted her very vivid dream. _"God! Can't I at least have a nice dream?!"_

TBC.

_Note: This chapter shows a little bit of her character. I'd like to think she's a bit obsessive compulsive. I personally think that doctors need to be super organized and neat. I've named this chapter Primal Instincts, since it's about training. There are 5 primal Instincts. Self-preservation, reproduction, territorialism, hierarchy, and ritualism. Every instinct was demonstrated in a (somewhat) subtle way. Figure it out. Enjoy. :)_


	10. Safe in My Arms

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

_Note: It was really difficult to write this story. Both episodes were so close together that it was hard to stick some missing scenes in between._

_A Tag to Adrift & Lifeline…_

Watching the monitors, Jennifer Keller couldn't stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks. The sight before her was a little too overwhelming. She can make out a few words that form his mouth. Silently thanking Elizabeth for including him in the expedition. Making him stay and trusting him.

She crashes and Ronon is flustered. Confused as to what he did. He asks Jenifer if he did anything wrong. She assures him that he didn't do anything.

--

"I heard you took out a shard of glass yourself." Jennifer asks Ronon as they stand side by side, watching Rodney and Sheppard argue.

"Yup. That doctor over there wouldn't do it so I did it myself." Pointing at the young doctor treating a marine in bed.

"You could've really hurt yourself, you know." She looks at him disapprovingly. He's smiling a bit at this. "I'm serious. You could've done some real damage."

He senses something other than a doctor's concern. Something deeper than that. Something more personal. Which encourages him.

"Concerned, doc?" He asks her with a teasing smile. Half joking, half wanting to know what she would say. If she'd say that she was worried about him.

"Well, of course. I'm your doctor." She says matter-of-factly. She sighs at this, and then adds softly. "You could've at least waited for me to do it myself."

"You had your hands full. Didn't want to be a bother." He replied in a voice that almost sounds pitiful.

"Ronon…" She begins to say. Stopping herself from saying anymore. _"You really don't want to scare the guy off you idiot."_ She just shakes her head.

Ronon quickly hides his disappointment. Shrugs his shoulders and pretends to inspect his shoulder.

--

It seems like Sheppard and Rodney have come up with an idea to get another ZPM. Jennifer is worried that the solution that they have come up with won't work. So she tries to convince them not to go through with it. But unfortunately it's the only way to save the city.

"Ronon!" Jennifer calls out, as she runs into him. "I've been looking all over for you."

"Checked on McKay, he's trying to alter the Jumper's cloak. Something about the replicators." He explains to her while he walks to his quarters.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I just really think that it's too dangerous. The risk into going is…"

"Like Sheppard says, it's the only way. We have to do this. Besides we've got Dr. Weir and she'll be able to hack into the replicators' brains from what I understand." He tells her as he swipes his hand over his door sensor. Both of them walk through, without Jennifer noticing it. The door shuts behind them.

She grabs his arm in an almost-death grip. "Well then I can't clear you for duty."

He whirls around, surprised at the force of her tone and grip. "What?! You're not going to what?" She doesn't even wince at the way he's almost yelling.

"I'm not going to clear you for duty. I can do that. I'm your doctor. As CMO I can do anything I want. And that includes stopping you from going through with this mission." She says confidently.

"Sheppard can override your command. I don't have to listen to you." He says matter-of-factly.

There's a fleeting look of panic on her face, replaced by a stern one. "You can't. You just can't."

"Why not?" He asks her in more gentler tone. Searching her eyes for something… _"Tell me you don't want me to leave because you care about me. I'll still go if you tell me you don't want me to leave. But at least I'd know. If we don't get out of there alive, at least I would know."_

"Because…" She says as she searches for the right words. "It's too dangerous, you guys might not make it." She desperately tells him, and thinks to herself, _"You might not make it, and then what would I do?"_

"_There! There it is." _As he finds the answer deep in her eyes. "You said that already."

"Well, what else do you want me to say?!" She says dejectedly.

"What you really want to say." He tells her softly.

She blushes at this. Breathes in and hangs her head. Looking at her feet for about 2 minutes. And he watches her, waiting. She wipes her cheek discreetly. But he catches her movement. Knowing that she's silently crying, trying to be brave. Smiling sadly, he repeats his question.

She finally looks up, her eyes a bit red. "Just promise me that you won't get yourself... and the others hurt. Let's keep surgeries to a minimum. I can't handle anymore injuries." _"I can't handle seeing you hurt… or not ever seeing you again."_

"You know I can't promise that." Putting his hand on her shoulder, "But if this works… if our mission is successful, I promise I'll take a week off. No sparring or whatever. Okay? Deal?" Squeezing her shoulder to get a response.

She sighs and gives in. "Deal." She then realizes that she's actually inside his quarters and that she's still gripping his arm. Blushing at this, she lets go and turns around to leave. But says over her shoulder "I'm serious, Ronon. You have to be careful. The city needs you. All of you." And with that she walks down the hall.

Ronon's still standing by the door. Watching her. Thinking about the unsaid words between them.

--

Jennifer is standing in the control room with Teyla. Watching the puddle Jumper take off. Teyla is as nervous as she is, but more confident about the mission. Still wanting to be with her team, but knowing full well why John had her stay. She gives Jennifer a sidelong glance. Squeezes her arm in reassurance. "They will be back, Jennifer. You can count on it. We've always watched each others' backs." Teyla guarantees her.

"I really hope so." Jennifer says, her eyes locked onto the disappearing puddlejumper.

--

Back on Atlantis, the mission was successful. Except for the fact that Elizabeth was left behind. Ronon walks in the infirmary. Searching for Jennifer. He finds her talking to someone sitting on one of the beds. She's laughing. As he gets closer he sees that it's Lt. Tyler.

Jennifer is trying to suture a shoulder wound that the lieutenant supposedly acquired when he pushed a scientist out of the way of a falling equipment rack when Col. Sheppard landed the city. According to him it caught him instead. Causing the gaping wound. But she knows differently. Apparently it was Zalenka who he pushed, the equipment rack only fell over because the lieutenant was dodging a falling beam, and the unfortunate scientist was in his way. _"Coward. You're so full of sh…"_ Despite that, she still felt that she needed to laugh at his lame jokes. Just to be nice.

She spots Marie making a face and nudging her head, towards whatever is behind Jennifer. She turns around just in time to see Ronon, who decided to leave after seeing the laughing pair.

"Ronon! Are you hurt? Is everything okay?" She worriedly asks. Forgetting that she's currently stitching up the arrogant Lieutenant. Ronon turns around to see that she's still holding the needle and thread she's using on Tyler, almost pulling the stitches out… Marie runs over to Lt. Tyler to grab the needle from Jennifer.

"I'll take over, doctor." Marie says, hiding an amused smile.

"Oh…" Realizing what she had done, but surprisingly not caring so much. "Oh, thank you, Marie." Letting go of the needle and thread, then taking her gloves off and tosses it in a nearby trash can. "Lieutenant, you're in Marie's hands now, you're almost done anyway." She informs him, not even bothering to turn around since her eyes are locked with Ronon's. Tyler's face confused at the doctor's sudden change of behavior. Apparently he's dense.

She pulls him towards a bed in a more secluded area. The dividers drawn around them. He wordlessly follows her, letting her drag him behind her. As she deposits him by the bed, she's pulling a tray towards them. Giving him a once over. Checking his arms and shoulders, his face, brushing her hand over his forehead pushing back the hair on his face, feeling his neck for any wounds. Then she surprises him when she lifts his shirt up, grabs his hand for him to hold the hem in place. She checks for any sign of bruising. Gently panting down his chest, then his ribs, feeling if anything's broken, skimming his sides, causing him to smile a bit, it seems he's a bit ticklish, and then turning him around so she can check his back, pressing lightly around his spine, her touch turning into a light caress when she traces his spine absently when she finds nothing. With a sigh of relief she bows her head, resting it on the middle of his back. Her hands splayed on either side of her face laying flat against the broad expanse of his back. breathing heavily from the stress that she she bottled up since he went through the stargate.

Ronon tilts his head back, his dreads lightly brushing against the top of her head. Contemplating on what to do next, relishing the feel of her hands on him. _"Oh hell."_ He reaches around him, finds her wrist and pulls her around him. Enveloping her in his arms, his shirt still raised below his chin, her hands and face buried in his chest, they stand that way for a few minutes. Just savoring the feel of each other, the comfort they're both getting from one another.

"_I should be the one holding him. Elizabeth's gone. They just came back from this mission. I should be the one holding him."_ Wrapping her arms around his waist, squeezing him hard.

"_God. It feels so good to hold her. She was worried. I hate that I put her through this."_ Confused as to what is happening, he pulls away. Hating the loss of contact. "Doc… hey. I'm fine, really, not a scratch."

She lets go of him, embarrassed at the way she just acted. "Right."

"Just wanted to let you know that I'm not going back on my deal. I'll be on leave for a week."

"Good. Good then. Not even sparring, okay?" She says with a grin.

"Not even sparring." Confirming her half-question and half command. Moving away from her he tells her goodnight.

She watches him walk out of the infirmary. Thinking that she scared him off again.

Ronon's lost in thought. Trying to decide whether he should leave her alone and not pursue whatever it is he's trying to figure out. _"Maybe she should just hang out with Tyler. They seem to get along. But if they get together it kinda defeats the whole purpose of not worrying her. He'll probably get himself killed a lot sooner than I will. Then she'll be sad about that."_ Shaking his head. _"No. I don't think his contract extends that long. Those marines come and go. If he leaves Atlantis, then there's a bigger chance she might leave with him. I can't stand not seeing her around this city, but I can't have her worrying about me. It's better this way." _Miserable about his decision, he heads towards Dr. Weir's office, knowing that Teyla's there packing up her belongings.


	11. Better Off

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

_A Tag to Reunion…_

**One week earlier:**

It's already been 3 weeks and she still hasn't seen him. It's safe to assume that he's been avoiding her. She figured she scared him away. That would be the only reason. She noticed that in the infirmary log he's been there at least 3 or 4 times. But coincidentally, only when she's off duty.

"_Stupid! Stupid! I knew it. I should not have gotten my hopes up! Why the hell would he even be interested in me? Of all the women in Atlantis… the Pegasus Galaxy even… why would he even give me the time of day. Aghhh!!"_ Scolding herself, Jennifer grabs a tray and fills it with food absentmindedly.

She grabs a seat across from Radek who's sitting with Rodney. Both men arguing about something… again. Jennifer just stares off at a point beyond Rodney, not paying attention to the two gibbering scientists, pushing her food around, thinking. Not wanting to think. But thinking… about Ronon.

The object of her thoughts walk through the mess hall doors. Sheppard and Teyla walking ahead of him, silently discussing him. Knowing that he wouldn't hear a thing they said, despite his super hearing, because he's been acting even more aloof than ever. He grabs a tray to dump his food on, and sees the doctor who's staring off into space. Teyla nudges Sheppard and tilts her head towards Jennifer, and then looks at Ronon. They find Ronon staring at the doctor, putting food in his tray, and not noticing that half of what he's taking is falling onto his boots.

"Hey buddy, you may want to save some of that for us." Sheppard says, pointing at the wasted food.

"Huh?" A confused Ronon says with a frown, and then looking at his feet. "Shit." He taps his feet, first the left, then the right, kicking the food off. Grunts then walks to a table in the far corner facing Jennifer's back so that he can watch her from a distance.

Teyla just shakes her head, Sheppard grabs two trays, waiting for Teyla to help him put food on them. Knowing what he likes to eat she picks out food for the both of them. Grabbing 2 bottles of water, they both walk to where Ronon had settled in. Passing Jennifer's Table, they greet all three. But Jennifer barely acknowledges them. Only nodding her head once. A faraway look in her eyes.

Sheppard pulls up a chair for Teyla as they take their seats. Teyla launches into a lecture. "What is wrong with you Ronon? Look at what you are doing to Jennifer." She tells him in a low angry voice. "You are making her miserable."

"And yourself, too." Sheppard interjects.

Ronon gives him a menacing look. But when he looks at Teyla, he knows that he can't do anything but say "She's better off."

"Better off? From what?" She asks him.

"Look she's a doctor, I'm a warrior. She heals, I kill. We have nothing in common. I'll just make her more miserable if I pursue her. Every time I step through the Stargate I risk my life."

"And you don't think she doesn't risk her life just being here in Atlantis? We could be attacked any day." Sheppard states.

"That's not the point…" He starts to say.

Teyla raises her eyebrow and asks him in a frustrated whisper "Then what is? Why did you even try to be friends with her, only to snub her. The decent thing for you to do is to explain things for her."

"The least you could do is to stop lurking around her, watching her every move, but not showing yourself. She can sense that you know, sense you. After all, you taught her that."

**Five Days Later:**

"Are you sure this is what you really want?" Lorne asks Ronon after training some of the new recruits.

"Joining my friends?" Ronon confirms.

"Yeah… but we're your friends too, ya know. I mean, you've got a place here. Besides, what about… Keller?" Lorne says, thinking the question is worth the risk.

Ronon, looks over at his shoulder at Lorne, but quickly turns away. "What do you mean?"

"Oh come on Ronon, I wasn't born yesterday. I'm not the only one who's noticed, either." He says to him.

"Mind your own business, Lorne."

"Look, I just think that you're jumping into this situation because of this thing with you and Keller. I know where you're coming from, man. I've been there. I know that you're only trying to protect her. But take it from me, she doesn't need protecting. She knows the risks in being with you." Lorne tries to explain. "You're just hurting her more by leaving."

"It's better this way." He says gruffly, gathering his things.

"You can't run away from your problems. Joining them won't help you."

As he walks out the door he says over his shoulder, "They're my team, my friends."

Lorne shouts "But we're your family!"

--

"He's what?!" Jennifer asks, flabbergasted.

"He's leaving Atlantis." Samantha says.

"But why? C-can he do that?" Trying to hide her feelings from the newly appointed Atlantean leader.

"To be honest, no. When he agreed to join this expedition, it meant that we needed his discretion. Everything he knows about Atlantis… well that's classified information. Not to mention the fact that he belongs to Atlantis' number one team." Samantha further explains to Jennifer and Sheppard. "He's been involved in many important meetings. Even interviewed the Daedalus crew when Col. Caldwell was compromised. Him being out there, without the backup of Atlantis makes him a liability."

"With all due respect, Colonel, we're talking about Ronon here." Sheppard, much to his objection to Ronon's departure, defends his friend.

"I know that Ronon is trustworthy and all. And I admire your loyalty to him. But the fact of the matter is that the wraith are not the only threat to us. The Replicators, like the G'ould have the capability and technology to read our minds, even manipulate our thoughts. Ronon may be able to stand all kinds of torture, but let's face it, even he can succumb to the Replicators.

"We can't risk him being out there with the information that he has. As much as I hate to say it, I am forced to take action." She continues.

As this discussion is going on, Jennifer is slowly dying inside.

"_Oh God." _She thinks to herself_. "Is it my fault. Stupid idiot… of course not. God! I'm so conceited… to think that him leaving Atlantis is because of me. His friends. Of course. I mean, they are his friends. Oh God… I don't think I can stand not seeing him around here." _She scolds herself_ "What the hell am I thinking. I barely know the guy and already I'm…" _she sighs sadly.

"Go Ahead Colonel. Take a jumper then. But I want you to be extra careful. I have a weird feeling about this mission." Samantha orders Sheppard.

**Present:**

"Dr. Keller, I think you should see this…" Marie tells her superior.

Jennifer walks out of her office and into the main infirmary. Seeing the commotion, she tries to push her way into it. Then she halts her steps when she sees HIM sitting on one of the beds. Being treated. Samantha asking Ronon about the team and his Satedan friends. Rooted to the spot, she listens for a bit. But then moves away from them. Walking back into her office. She pushes the door to close, but it swings back to reveal her sitting form, her face buried in her hands.

--

He saw her a few feet away from him and Samantha. Saw her freeze up. Saw her walk away. And is now watching her cry. His heart is aching at this sight. He looks away to focus on what the Colonel is saying.

--

She watches him leave from the far corner of her office. _"He's leaving again. And this time he's probably never coming back."_

--

He can see her as he leaves the infirmary. Watching. It hurts him so much, knowing that he's never gonna see her again. _"But it's for the better."_ He walks out into the hallway with a heavy heart.

--

A few hours after his departure with Samantha, Radek and two teams, Jennifer grabs Marie and asks her to come with her to the makeshift bar located at the other side of the city. Asking two other doctors to take over while she and Marie take off for a couple of hours.

"I need a drink." She tells Marie.

"Are you sure about that, Doctor?" Marie asks.

"Jennifer. We've been working together for quite some time now, you could at least call me by my first name when we're off duty. And, really? You're going to ask me that? Marie, let me tell you…" Jennifer states as she quickly maneuvers herself and Marie through the throng of people in the hallway "back in college, I may not have had my share of fun, but I did learn quite a few tricks… from my roommate. She was nice. When we came back to the dorm from the grocery store, I'd be carrying my bags of food and stuff, while she'd be carrying a bag going "clang-clang". Her half of the refrigerator was full of beer, a vodka bottle and a box of orange juice to make a screwdriver." She remembers with a smile. Depositing herself on a stool and patting the next one for Marie to take a seat. "Yep… I learned a lot from her. All these drinking games and what not."

"But that's just it… we're not off duty. We can both get in trouble." Marie says.

"Well you know what Marie, I'm tired. I'm sick and tired of people expecting me to do the right thing. Why? Why does it always have to be me? Sheppard and his team always break the rules. What's so special about them?" She argues, but knowing exactly why they're special. "And don't worry, I took you off the schedule before we left. Called in Nurse… hmmm, what's-her-face. Anyway, yeah, so don't you worry." Patting her hand.

"But what about you? Did you take yourself off the schedule." She asks her.

"Nope… and don't even bother arguing with me. Two Jaeger bombs please!" Holding up 2 fingers "I know you have them… I just saw the new shipment of red bull, too."

The "bartender" looks at her suspiciously. Obviously curious if she's old enough to be in there. He wouldn't be surprised if she turned out to be only 19 years old. Some of the new personnel are very young. And he's never seen her in the bar before, only in the infirmary. Knows her as the new CMO. Probably a genius of some sort.

"Do you need to see my I.D.?" She asks him, incredulous at the assumption. "Fine." Pulls out her Atlantis I.D. Glad that they made it mandatory for personnel to carry them around.

The "bartender" nods. Looks at Marie, and asks for I.D., just for formalities. Grabs two glasses, pours a shot of Jaeger in each glass and then equal amounts of red bull. And slides it to the women.

A group of Marines walk into the bar, one of them being Lt. Tyler. He, of course, spots the doctor. He walks over to her to say 'hi'. Ignoring Marie.

The neglect not lost on Jennifer points his rudeness out. By this time, Jennifer has already had 3 Jaeger bombs and has lost all inhibitions. "Lt. Tyler…"

"Ben." He cuts in.

"What?!" Frowning at his interruption. "Oh, Ben, you just ignored Marie. Aren't you going to at least say 'hi' to her? It's really rude you know. Here's a tip, Ben." Stressing his name as she says it. "When you are trying to impress a girl, and you see that she's not alone, you cannot ignore her friend. If you shower both women with equal amounts of attention but subtly showing the main girl that you're more interested in her, it'll really impress the girl. At least that's how confident women feel. Insecure women on the other hand, well, that's another story."

Misunderstanding the meaning to her words, he sees this as encouragement. And proceeds to talk to her, but he takes her advise into consideration and includes Marie in the conversation. Telling them stories and jokes. Both she and Marie are utterly bored and have taken 2 more shots to numb their hearing. It being the fifth for Jennifer and a third for Marie… although Marie has been drinking water the whole time. Laughing at Lt. Tyler and his attempts at humor. He mistakenly thinks they're laughing at his jokes.

From across the bar, charlotte Griffith watches this interaction. She came to the bar to drown her sorrow over Ronon's departure. Thinking that she hadn't even gotten the chance to kiss him, let alone to get him into bed. Interested at the sight before her. _"The doc's a flirt… she's no competition for me, though. I still don't see what all these stupid men see in her."_

--

She and Marie had just left the bar twenty minutes before the teams that samanthe led to rescue SGA-1. Both went back to their quarters. Marie to get some rest. And Jennifer to freshen up, so she can go back to the infirmary. It didn't work. Marie followed her back to the infirmary to plead with her to just stay in her quarters. She just brushed her off.

Marie eventually stopped when she saw Col. Carter round the corner. Fearing that she'd raise the atlantean leader's suspicions.

--

Back from the fake mission, Sheppard and his team are in the infirmary waiting for Ronon to get stitched up.

Unfortunately for Jennifer all the other doctors have purposely busied themselves with another team that just came back from another mission. Leaving her to deal with the bloodied Satedan. Not giving her enough time to explain to them that she can't do anything for him.

Seeing the stricken look on her face, Sheppard announces that they should just leave Ronon in the doc's good hands. Patting Ronon's shoulder on their way out. He gives Jennifer a wink.

Jennifer's standing a few feet away from him. Still thinking about her next move. _"Oh God… Oh God! Holy Crap!"_ A bout of nervousness overcomes her. Then she gets over it and straightens her shoulders. _"I can do this."_ Still not grasping the fact that his face is covered in blood. The alcohol has clouded her mind.

He's watching her from where he sits. "_Her eyes seem red. Her face pale. Is she sick? Did she cry when I was gone?"_ He thinks, hating himself for hurting her. "You're drunk!" He exclaims in high-pitched but low whisper when she moves to close the distance between them, he could smell the alcohol in her breath.

"I am not!" She declares. At that denial she quickly covers her mouth in embarrassment from the obvious proof that escapes her mouth. "And so what if I am. Regaining her confidence back? You think I can't stitch you up…"

"I didn't say that…" He quickly interjects.

"Well I'll have you know, Ronon Dex, I am very good at what I do. I can even stitch you up with my eyes closed. Come on…" Taunting him. "dare me… really, I'll do it!" Closing her eyes to prove her words, she then bursts out laughing.

Confused, Ronon grabs her from where she stands, afraid that she might tip over, and sets her on the bed beside him. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I ignored you for weeks. And I'm sorry that I ever thought about leaving Atlantis." He quietly admits.

Laughing and then sobbing, Jennifer bends down to her waist hugging her legs that are swinging on the side of the bed. Her forehead on her knees, her body shaking as she cries. When she calms down, she turns her head to the side, still hugging her legs, to look at Ronon. He bends down a little bit, his elbows resting on his thighs so he can look into her eyes. "I'm sorry, too, about your friends. I heard in the hallway. One of the marines who was with you…" She explains when he looks at her questioningly. "news travels fast."

"My friends are here. You're here." She nods at that. Her eyes watery. "Friends?" he asks, pleadingly.

"She sits up, looks forward, then looks back at him. "Friends." She firmly decides. She hops off the bed, and grabs the stuff she needs to suture his wound with. Looking at the cut he received, she shakes her head and says "It's a good thing your eye is alright." She cleans his cut, then dabs a bit of alcohol on it, he cringes at the sting, so she blows a little bit on it. He's loving the feel of her breath on his face, even if it's laced with alcohol. The close proximity reminding them of the strong attraction they have for one another. She steps back and threads the needle she's about to use. "Tell me what happened." She says to him gently, knowing for some reason that he would spill his feelings out to only her.

And he does.

TBC.


	12. Finding Excuses

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

_A Tag to Doppelganger_

"So you're telling me she's been ignoring you…" Sheppard asks Ronon as they're walking down the hallway to the Jumper Bay getting ready for their next mission.

"No… she's not ignoring me, she's well she's not acting the way she usually acts around me. You know, no nervousness or awkwardness. Like my presence doesn't do anything to her anymore. She's never flustered when I'm around. But we talk." He tries to explain to Sheppard.

"Aaaah." Suddenly dawning on Sheppard what's really happening. "Buddy, what exactly did you tell her when we got back from _that_ mission." Treading carefully over the sensitive subject. It has been a couple of weeks already since it happened.

Knowing what mission Sheppard meant, he tells him about what happened, but leaves the part where she wreaked of alcohol. "… And she agreed that we'd be friends."

"Aha!" Sheppard explains, waving one hand in the air. "Just as I suspected. You never told her, did you? You just said 'Let's be friends."

"Well not exactly like that. But yeah."

"See, that's where you just messed up. After ignoring her for almost a month you should've explained what was going on instead of just apologizing. She now thinks that you just really want to be friends. Nothing more." Sheppard explains to Ronon. "Now she's doing just that. Being friends. Keller isn't one of your typical girls. She won't play with you or your feelings. She'd rather be friends than nothing at all. So she's accepted the whole situation."

"So she took what I said literally?" Ronon says, finally realizing what he had done.

"Precisely."

"So what do you want to do about this?" Sheppard asks him as they board the jumper.

"What?" Ronon shrugs. "I dunno, what do you think?"

"Geez, what the hell's wrong with you, big guy?" An amazed Sheppard asks. "You're usually the act-now-ask-questions-later kind of guy. The doc's got you wrapped around her finger." Ronon frowns at this comment. "Not that there's anything wrong to it. It's just, well… I'm seeing a different side of you." Sheppard states as he's activating the Jumper.

"Shotgun?" Teyla says to Rodney, fondly repeating the word she learned from them. Rodney makes a face and sits behind Sheppard while Ronon takes the one opposite him.

"What the colonel is trying to say is that it's nice to see you being interested in someone for a change" Teyla smoothes in.

"Yeah makes you seem more human." Sheppard adds good-naturedly.

Mckay snorts at what Sheppard says, taunts him. "If I could read minds then I'd be able to tell you what she thinks about you… oh wait, I did!" He says to him sarcastically. "Hey I'll tell you if you give me a months pay." Rodney bribes him.

"It's too late, McKay." Ronon growls.

"Well I did offer to tell you when I had those super powers! It's your fault."

"I meant, it's too late now… I've always known how she felt." He spits out.

"Oh… really? How? You're super hearing?" McKay loudly wonders, a little bit disappointed that he can't bribe him anymore. Ronon just shakes his head at this.

Sheppard whispers to Teyla "Hey so I never asked you, how long have you known?"

"About what?" A crease formed on Teyla's forehead.

"About you-know-who… and you-know-who." Sheppard says with a nod towards Ronon's direction. Ronon knows that they're talking about him but chooses to ignore them.

"The day Jennifer arrived." Teyla says with a smile.

"What? How?" Sheppard says with an incredulous look.

"We had just arrived from a mission from Pelion when Jennifer and some other new arrivals were touring the gate room. She caught his eye as soon as we walked through. He had been acting strange ever since then." She tells him, not caring that Ronon could hear them. He needed to hear it anyway.

"Really?!" Sheppard exclaims. "Hm. I only found out the day Carson… well you know what I mean. I still wasn't even sure yet." Continuing to whisper.

"I found out when I had superpowers." McKay says arrogantly, unwrapping a power bar.

They just ignore McKay. Sheppard asks him again "So what do you want to do about it then?"

"I dunno. I mean she obviously doesn't feel the same way about me anymore so…" He shrugs. "so what's the use?"

"Ronon, I have never known you to give up so easily." Teyla comments.

"I'd rather remain friends with her than pressure her to do something she doesn't want to do anymore." He says sadly.

Teyla looks at Sheppard, noticing that he's deep in thought. She flinches a bit when his head bobs up suddenly, surprising her, obviously finding a solution. "I've got it! We can pretend that you're hurt. You know… like when we're sparring, I can get in a lucky shot." Sheppard beams at his own clever solution.

"W-w-wait… Why can't it be me?" Rodney asks him. Ronon just looks at him, amused at the unbelievable suggestion. Rodney notices this and says to him "What?" Obviously oblivious to the fact that it was impossible that it could ever happen.

"Rodney, let's be realistic here, okay. In a million years, you could never be able to take Ronon down." Sheppard says in a kind tone.

"That's why it's called a lucky shot, right? I could get a lucky shot!" He argues.

"You're not that lucky." Ronon says with a smirk. Rodney looks at him, and finally says "Fine. Why can't Teyla do it? It's more likely that she can beat him, than Sheppard."

"True. But have you ever noticed Teyla bringing anyone she has sparred with to the infirmary? She's really careful not to hurt any of her sparring partners. That's what makes her better than Ronon." He smiles at Teyla.

She smiles back at his compliment. Ronon looks at McKay who seems astonished at what Sheppard just said in front of Ronon. "Self-control. That's what makes her really good. It's true." He explains to McKay. McKay then nods at this. Knowing that Teyla and Ronon have always understood each other in a way that nobody else can.

"So what do you say, Buddy?" We can start as soon as we get back." Sheppard tells Ronon. Wiggling his eyes up and down.

"Wouldn't that be like deceiving her?" Teyla says unsurely.

"No… It's just an excuse to see her. The more she sees him, then the more she has to touch him…" Smiles sheepishly, but quickly adds "in a professional way, of course. But sometimes, you just can't help it. Things happen." An evil grin forms on his face.

Ronon's nodding at this idea. But Teyla is still doubtful. "Why do we have to resort to hurting Ronon. Isn't there any other way? Why can you not just tell her right away?" Turning around to look at Ronon questioningly.

Before he could answer, Sheppard interjects. "Women from my planet are different. You can't just suddenly tell them. When the say 'no', sometimes they mean 'ask me some more', when they say they're fine, they really mean 'they're not, and that they're angry'…"

"And when they give you the 'it's not you, it's me' speech they really mean 'it's you'" Rodney adds.

"Well that kinda works both ways… Guys use it, too. Back then when people started using that phrase as an excuse to break up with someone, it kinda worked, not making the dumpee feel bad. But nowadays, people actually know the real meaning behind those words." Sheppard rambles on.

Teyla and Ronon are trying to comprehend what they are saying. Teyla just sighs, and Ronon just shakes his head and says "Okay, then you can hit me tonight and we'll time it during her shift."

"Cool." Sheppard says with a satisfied smile.

--

"Okay so she's on duty tonight, but there are some nurses on duty also, so we'll wait for them to leave for their break, you know, when she's not around." Sheppard says to Ronon as they're looking at the schedule posted on the infirmary door. Not hearing the conversation Jennifer is having with one of the other doctors.

--

"I called in Dr. Davis to fill in for me tonight. I have a huge headache right now. Hopefully I'll be better after a good night's rest." Jennifer informs Dr. Diaz as she walks towards the infirmary doors leading out into the hallway.

--

She waves her hand at Ronon and Sheppard who are standing by the doors. But not bothering to stop and talk to them since her head is hurting like hell. _"Wonder what they're doing out here?"_

They see her leaving, and Sheppard nudges Ronon to go follow her and have small talk with her. He catches up with her. "Hey Doc, how's it going?"

"Oh, hey, Ronon, I um…" She's cut off rudely by an intruding Charlotte.

"Ronon! Hey! Just the man I was looking for." Blatantly placing her hand on his chest, sidling up to him in the most provocative way, making Jennifer, and him especially, really uncomfortable. "So I was thinking, I missed a couple of training sessions with you, could you train me… you know, a one-on-one kinda thing." Smiling the sweetest smile she could muster.

He pushes her away, but not too much, not wanting to embarrass her, and then looks at Jennifer and says "This'll only take a minute."

"Oh, hey Dr. Keller." Charlotte smiles brightly, but a distinct evil gleam in her eyes. "I didn't know you were there." She lies, knowing full well that the Satedan had tried to start a conversation with the doctor. Exactly why she butted in.

"Of course not." Jennifer's voice laced with sarcasm. "It's okay Ronon, I was just heading to my quarters anyway. Saddened by the intrusion.

"Later then?" Ronon asks her. She just nods absently, not wanting to look at the pair.

"What do you want?" He growls at the leggy blonde who had wrapped herself around Ronon's arm again.

"Oh come on, Ronon, why are you acting that way. It's not like we're not _friends._" Purring the last word out.

"We're not." He firmly states, trying to shake her off him.

"But what about the time you came to me to ease those tense muscles when you first got here." She says, a sly smile forming, making it seem that something happened between them.

"Dr. Beckett suggested that I have my back cracked. That's it. Don't put so much meaning into it." He said gruffly turning his back on her, leaving her embarrassed.

Sheppard catches up with him. "Hey so what was _that _all about? Did something happen between you two?"

"Huh? Hell no. She's too aggressive. Aggression is fine if you know the other person feels the same way about you. I just don't like her. Something about her. I dunno." Ronon tells Sheppard.

"Well she is a bit mean to a lot of the other women here. She's scared of Teyla, though. And Marie, I'm not sure why." Sheppard puts in. They're both walking to the gym.

Ronon knows exactly why she's afraid of Marie, remembering the day at the Mess Hall. He smiles at the memory. Glad that Jennifer has friends to support her, despite the fact that she thinks she's all alone in the city.

"I think it's coz Marie's known to just stick a needle in your arm… she's really good with those shots, ya know. One time, I think this was when you weren't here yet, Radek was running around the infirmary not wanting to get a shot, two orderlies were trying to strap him down, I forget what he contracted but it made him a tiny bit crazy. Anyway, she jumped him from behind and stuck that needle in his ass." Ronon cringes at this description. "Yup, it wasn't a pretty sight." Sheppard says with a face,

"Now, all we have to do is wait a couple of hours and then I can hit you, just enough for you to get a bruise. And then we go to the infirmary so she can put some ice on it." Sheppard says with a smile.

"In the meantime, let's spar." Ronon says with a grin, making Sheppard worry.

--

"I thought you said only enough for a bruise." Ronon cries out, touching the spot above his eyebrow, where it's bleeding. Looking at the blood that transferred onto two of his fingers.

"You were moving too fast." Sheppard quickly explains, defending himself. "Well at least now it's more believable."

--

They walk towards the infirmary, seeing Keller walk through the doors… wearing sleeping garments. Ronon raises an eyebrow at this, Sheppard just shrugs. They follow her to the medicine cabinet where she's grabbing a bottle of pills. Ronon Stands behind her, inhaling that powdery smell he missed so much. She jumps back when she turns around. Surprised.

--

"Are you sure you're okay?" Jennifer asks as she puts a band-aid over his eyebrow.

"I'm fine. Why aren't you in uniform?" He asks her, changing the subject.

"Oh, um, I was in bed. I just needed something to help me sleep." Putting away the stuff she used on him.

"You were asleep? I thought you're on duty tonight?" His eyes intense on her.

"I was, I had a headache." She wonders how he knew that she was supposed to be on duty. _"Aha! So that's what you and John were doing earlier."_ She smiles at this realization.

Ronon, realizing that he slipped up, senses that she knows how he knows. Deciding that her smile was a good sign he offers to walk her back to her quarters.

"Sure, why not?" Gratitude and shyness shown in her eyes and smile.

They walk out, passing by Dr. Davis who took a quick restroom break. Puzzled at the pair walking out of the infirmary. "Dr. Keller, I thought you had a headache."

"Oh, um I just came in to grab some pills. Ronon had a sparring accident and came in at the same time." Explaining their presence.

"Oh, okay. Well, goodnight then." Smiling at them both, a knowing look on his face. _"Ronon probably had a sparring accident and intentionally called Keller to patch him up, and even with that headache of hers she still gets up for him. They're so obvious. They should just come right out and admit it." _

Walking to the transporter, they're both silent. He swipes his hand over the sensor and gently ushers her inside. Simultaneously, they touch the screen to where her room is located. They pull their hands back as if stung by something. Both aware of the close proximity. She smiles up at him, looks away since he's staring intently at her, then starts humming. Ronon's leaning casually against the opposite wall, smilingly watching her. He tries really hard not to reach out to her. Seeing her in her sleeping garments seems so… sexy? Geez… being in this transporter… gives you all sorts of ideas.

They step out into the hallway, he's following closely behind her. As they reach her room, she unlocks her door, but doesn't open it, she turns around to face him, he leans a little closer reaching around her. Her breath hitches. But instead of pulling her against him, he swipes his hand over the sensor activating the door.

"Goodnight, Doc." Tapping the band-aid. "Thanks!"

"Oh," Blushing prettily. "You're welcome, and thanks for walking with me. Night, Ronon." And she backs up inside her room, slowly turns around and shuts the door.

Ronon is walking down the hallway towards his room. Thinking that maybe Sheppard's plan to make her see more of him, but also playing a little bit hard to get might actually work. He could definitely see something in her eyes. Desire? Want? Need? Something. He wants to build it up… the desire… and the passion.

Sheppard even suggested that maybe Charlotte Griffith's flirting might work to his advantage… making Jennifer jealous. But he quickly took it back, realizing that it was a bad idea. Besides, Teyla would kick his ass if she ever found out.

Ronon doesn't ever want to make Jennifer jealous. He doesn't want to use another woman either just to get what he wants. He'll just have to do this the old fashioned way. Thinking about the next excuse to see her.

He turns around and heads back to her room. He activates the chime. Hoping that she hasn't fallen asleep yet.

She appears at her doorway, holding a glass of water and the pills in her hand. "Ronon, something wrong?" A worried look on her face.

"Um, no… I uh…" Rubbing his neck, having difficulty spitting the words out. She waits patiently for him to finish. "I was thinking if maybe you'd like to, um, you know join us for breakfast tomorrow?"

She brightens at the offer and says "I would if I could, but I can't. Missing my shift tonight changes my schedule for tomorrow. But what about lunch?"

"Even better." Ronon says with a big smile, something you rarely see on his face.

"So lunch it is then." She says, a big smile on her face, too since his was so infectious.

"Cool." Mimicking Sheppard's favorite word. She laughs at that. He walks around and looks over his shoulders to wave goodnight.

--

The next day, over lunch, she's sitting with McKay, Teyla and Ronon. Discussing the strange dreams they've been having with Sheppard in every one. Ronon purposely sat beside her, positioning his chair in an angled way to be able to see her without turning his head to the side. She made it even easier when she angled her body toward him, too.

They're talking about 'Alien' the movie. Telling him in her own silent way that she would only watch it with him if he wanted. She can feel his eyes on her. Watching her.

--

She and Samantha spot Sheppard's team sitting out on the balcony. As they both join the team, they start talking about dreams they've had as children. And what really scares them. The entity. And what his agenda was. Feeding on their fears.

Pretty soon, one by one they get up to leave. Ronon and Jennifer, the last ones to walk away from the table.

"Walk me to my room?" She boldly presumes. He nods and walks with her towards the sleeping quarters.

As they reach her room, he, once again, swipes his hand over the sensor. Gently pushing her inside her room. Fighting the urge to lift her against the wall and kiss her right there in the hallway. "Sleep Tight." He says to her. Quickly turning away, before she saw the desire in his eyes. And before he saw it in hers.

TBC.

_Note: So these are obviously fill ins. Missing scenes if you must. This episode showed a lot of potential between the two. The stolen glances, the subtle hint in asking if she's interested in Sheppard. All too coincidental. Teyla's use of the word shotgun was first heard in the episode Submersion. This chapter also explains how Ronon and Sheppard knew that she was on duty, but if it wasn't for the dream, she'd still be asleep with a headache, and Ronon would never have had the chance to see her that night. At least that's how I wanted it to be._


	13. Gossipmongers

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

_A Tag to Travellers…_

**Present:**

"Unscheduled off-world activation. It's Major Lorne's IDC, Col. Carter." Chuck says to her.

"Let them through." Samantha says, giving him the go ahead signal.

She walks down the steps towards the gate, as Jennifer Keller walks through the gate carrying a backpack, two marines; one injured, the other supporting him, and Major Lorne and Captain Kingsley bringing up the rear.

"Major what happened?" Samantha asks the leader.

"An unfortunate accident, ma'am. Lt. Bishop fell off the side of the hill when two local kids jumped out from the behind some trees while were hiking up a trail." Lorne explained. "Luckily, Dr. Keller came along with us today."

Samantha turns to Jennifer who's already radioing her team grab a gurney and help Lt. Bishop get to the infirmary. "Good Job, Jennifer."

Jennifer smiles at the praise and mutters "Thanks, part of the job." She sees Ronon in the control, his arm supporting his weight as it rests on one of the control tables, while his head is turned towards the gate room. Unfortunately, Charlotte Griffith is sitting on the same control table. In fact she's actually sitting right in front of him, beside the arm he's resting on. She frowns at that, hurt, and looks away and follows her med team to the infirmary.

--

Ronon's puzzled at the sudden change of her facial expression. _"She didn't even wave hello, not even a smile."_ He then straightens up, then finally sees what had caused Jennifer's reaction. Right in front of him is Charlotte. Sitting wantonly. Making it seem like they were in an intimate position from where Jennifer was standing. "What the..?" Ronon starts to say… then decides not to even bother, shakes his head and walks away, heading for the infirmary.

--

A satisfied smile on her face, Charlotte Griffith relishes in the fact that she's almost got Keller believing that there is something going on with her and Ronon. She giggles at the thought. Stands up, whirls around and flicks Chucks' almost half empty cup of coffee onto him, spilling it on his pants. Chuck jumps from his seat, quickly grabbing the jacket he hung over the back of his chair to wipe off the little puddle on the controls.

Kimberly shakes her head and helps Chuck clean his area up. She quietly says to Chuck "That bitch needs to be taught a lesson, seriously." Referring to Charlotte. "Did you see what she did?"

"What'd she do?" Chuck asks absently as he wipes his pants with a handkerchief Kimberly hands him.

"She snaked her way into that position… you know, in front of Ronon. To make Dr. Keller think they were being more than friendly when she stepped through. It worked… that woman is really sneaky. I swear sometimes I just wish that someone would deck her. Dr. Keller should deck her."

--

Glad that the infirmary wasn't full, he made his way to Jennifer, wanting to talk to her. She was gone for almost three days. She had stayed at Helicon, vaccinating the denizens. He missed her. Kept sparring those three days she was gone. Not wanting to go off-world just in case she got back earlier than planned. And he was right, they weren't due back until the next day. One would think it was a good thing. Unfortunately she caught him in an uncompromising position with the annoying chiropractor. Not entirely his fault, she had actually sneaked her way in front of him without him noticing.

"_She's probably pissed already. I can just explain. Tell her the truth. Charlotte is known to be a flirt, of course Jennifer will believe me. What am I getting so worked up about?"_ He thinks to himself as he nears the group surrounding the injured Lt. Bishop.

She sees him and quickly tries to find an excuse not to talk to him. He's trying to get through the people between him and her. She sees Lt. Tyler smiling up at her, sitting on one of the infirmary beds. Lt. Tyler was the marine supporting Lt. Bishop when they walked through the stargate.

Ronon knew that the Lieutenant was part of the team that Lorne put together to accompany Jennifer. He wasn't worried that the Tyler was gonna be around her. He knows for a fact that the doctor finds Tyler a nuisance. But right now, he's not so sure.

Jennifer busies herself with Ben Tyler. Fussing over him and a minor wrist injury that he got from pulling Bishop up from the side of the hill. She's actually risking being around here. She didn't want a confrontation with Ronon. She's always hated confrontation. She's always been calm and passive about things like this. Tyler was so annoying the whole time they were at Helicon. The second night he had the nerve to actually try to kiss her. When she thwarted his advances, he tried to explain himself. Somewhere in the middle of his lame excuses, he mentioned Ronon and Charlotte.

**Flashback to 2 Nights Before:**

"What do you mean Ronon and Charlotte are an item?" she asks the lieutenant.

Tyler's glad that her focus shifts onto the next subject. Embarrassed by her rejection it was the only way to steer the conversation towards a more interesting one. "Well you gotta admit, they look good together. Besides, both of them are the most 'lusted after' people in Atlantis. It's no wonder that they'd end up in bed together.

Jennifer feels sick at the thought of Ronon in bed with that bitch. _"That's why Charlotte's always picking on me. She's just marking her territory. They're both trying to keep their relationship a secret. Why'd he even bother being friends with me. Probably out of boredom and I'm such an easy target. You stupid idiot!"_ Scolding herself. Frustrated with herself, she listens some more to Tyler.

"Apparently this has been going on since Ronon arrived here. It happened the moment they met at her little massage room." A perverted smile spread across his face. She winces at his expression. "Anyway, what do you think? I think they have a lot of wild sex. Someone even said that they saw them coming out of one of the parked jumpers, all disheveled looking…tucking in their shirts and stuff. Her lipstick smeared around her mouth. Another said that they've been spotted right out on one of the balconies, the one near the infirmary. Just getting it on right there for everyone to see. I'm not surprised. Ronon lived as a runner for seven years, one can hardly call him civilized. That Charlotte Griffith… man, her sexual appetite… geez! She can definitely wear a guy out. I don't think they're monogamous, though. I've seen her coming out of other quarters almost every other night. What about you, doc? Have you ever seen them?"

"_My balcony?"_ Her stomach turns at the picture Tyler paints for her. She can't stand anymore so she excuses herself and takes a walk along a path coming across Lorne.

"You okay, doc? You seem a bit pale." Lorne asks, concern etched on his face.

"Oh, I'm fine, Evan, just a bit, well… never mind." She tells him as she pats his arm in reassurance.

Lorne looks at the direction she just came from and notices Lt. Tyler. The marine seems harmless. _"I wonder what he said to upset her?"_ He decided to ask later, tonight wasn't the right time for this.

**Back to the Present:**

"Doc, you're back." A gruff voice states the obvious from behind her.

"_Shit! Shit! Shit!"_ She thinks. She composes herself and says "Yes. I'm a little busy, Ronon, as you can see."

Ronon leans down by her ear, not wanting anyone to hear what he's saying to her. Although, the nosy lieutenant is straining his ear, leaning forward. Ronon pushes him back, away from Jennifer and their conversation. "I want to talk to you about what you saw in the control room. I didn't…"

With an exasperated sigh, Jennifer cuts in. "I said I'm busy. Besides, I don't think that anything you say now, will be able to fix…"

"Ronon!" Mckay says through the comm.

"What?!" Ronon growls back, still staring at the doctor.

"_Thank God!"_ Jennifer says to herself.

"Sheppard's been captured. Grab Lorne and head to the Jumper Bay." McKay explains hurriedly.

Hearing this, Jennifer and Ronon, concerned for the colonel, look at each other. An understanding passes between them. Ronon turns to leave, claps Lorne on the back and heads out the infirmary doors.

She calls over one of the nurses to finish up with Tyler, ignoring his objections. She walks to her office and is about to shut the door, when a hand clamps down gently on her shoulder. She already knows who it is without turning around.

"When I get back, we have to talk. I'm serious. We really need to clear things up. Promise me you'll be here when I get back." Ronon half commands, half pleads with her.

"Ronon…" she begins. Not daring to look at him.

"Promise me…"

"Just be careful." She tells him.

Taking that as a yes, he squeezes her shoulder and runs down the hall.

--

"Jennifer." Ronon calls out to her. She whirls at the sound of his voice.

She had been worried that they would never come back. Sheppard was missing, and that meant that they would do anything to get him back… even follow him to the edge of the world… or rather galaxy. Happy that he's finally back, but nervous about they're impending talk.

He pulls her towards her door, swiping his hand and entering without even asking if he was allowed in. Noting the neatness of the room. He swings her around to face him. "What is wrong? Why couldn't you even say 'hi' when you got back?" Realizing what he just said as he sees her cock her eyebrow. "Okay so about that, you can't believe everything that you see."

"Ok, wait, wait, wait. I can't believe what? So what, I'm seeing things now? I'm hallucinating?" She says mockingly.

"That's not what I meant. That woman can spin tales like… I forget the expression Rodney uses. But anyway, she wasn't there until you came."

"So, she just appeared suddenly out of thin air, is that what you're saying?" Keller asks him.

"Yes. She thinks she can claim me for herself. And she does these things to annoy you."

"Whatever for, Ronon? I mean, why me, aren't we just friends? Didn't we clear that up months ago?" Wanting to know what she means to him. Not wanting to know.

Realizing that he has not really made his intentions clear. He decides not to overwhelm her any further. "It's just that I don't want you to think that I'm…"

"Ronon." Mckay interrupts again.

"What now?! He yells into his comm.. "I'm sorta in the middle of something important."

"Well you don't have to yell. Besides, whatever you're doing will have to wait. We found Sheppard. Need to get going now!"

Not wanting to leave her again, he says "We're not finished." And turns to exit her quarters.

--

A very jealous Charlotte Griffith sees him leave the CMO's quarters. Planning the next step to sabotaging the growing relationship between the two.

--

"Hey, Ronon," Evan says as they get back from finding Sheppard after their second round. "You might want to talk to Lt. Tyler."

Ronon frowns at the suggestion. "Why?" He asks the major.

"Well, when we were back at Helicon, uh, I kinda noticed that Dr. Keller was a bit upset. Not just a bit. But really upset. I saw that she came from the direction Tyler was at." Lorne quickly steps in front of Ronon when he sees Ronon's expression change to rage. "I don't think that he did anything serious. If he had, you know me well enough that I would've done something about it. The man's harmless. A bit annoying and crude at times. I asked her if anything was wrong, she said she was fine. But I'd ask Tyler, too, if I were you. He's a bit dense, and dumb… so anyway, just thought that you'd like to know."

"Thanks, Evan." Ronon's already heading towards Chuck to ask if he could locate Tyler. They find him at the bar. He figures that the lieutenant will be there for a while, he follows Sheppard and everyone else into the briefing room.

"John. You'll have to come with me." Ronon tells Sheppard.

"What for? I kinda need a bath…"

"To stop me from whatever I might do…"

"Holy shit…" Sheppard curses, then quicken his steps to catch up with Ronon. They find themselves looking at a very drunk Lt. Tyler.

They step up to the bar. Ronon on Tyler's left, Sheppard on his right. Both men who were seated on either side of the lieutenant senses the tension and get up to leave. Sheppard still clueless as to what they're doing, or at least, at what Ronon intends to do.

"Colonel. You're back! Glad to have you back!" He glances at Ronon warily. "Ronon." Nodding at the tall Satedan.

"What did you do to Keller? What did you do to her on Helicon?" Ronon growls out.

"Wha…? Nothing I didn't do anything…" He denies quickly. Sheppard's ears perk up at his friend's question.

"Did you do something to her?" Sheppard asks the lieutenant firmly.

"N-nothing. I just tried to kiss her that's all. Didn't even get a chance coz she slapped me. Did she say something? I swear I didn't do anything." Tyler says.

"Was she upset after that." Sheppard continues to interrogate. Ronon's confused still, Tyler trying to kiss her wouldn't be enough for her to be acting the way she's been acting lately. She handled him herself.

"I dunno, I mean she seemed fine after I changed the subject we started talking… well I, I started talking about you and Charlotte…"

"You what?!" Ronon growls as he grabs Tyler by the front of his shirt. Lifting him from his stool. "What exactly did you tell?"

Scared shitless, Ben Tyler begins to relay everything he told Jennifer, word for word. Sheppard blanches at this information. Ronon shakes Tyler several times that Sheppard has to pull them apart.

"Where in the hell did you hear these lies?!" He says menacingly.

He hesitates. Ronon steps up to him. Tyler holds a hand up, backing away. "Hold on, I'm trying to remember… uh. Aileen… Adri… Adriana. That's it. She was here with a red-head. Sarah I think her name was Sarah. Adriana and Sarah. They told me. We were having a drink here.

Ronon looks at Sheppard. Knowing that Sheppard is thinking the same thing as he is. "Charlotte's entourage." Sheppard says.

Ronon stalks off, determined to find Charlotte, knowing that she's in the lounge, neglecting her work. Sheppard turns to Tyler. "You should clean up. You look like hell." He walks out of the bar, trying to catch up with Ronon.

"What are you planning to do, buddy?" Sheppard asks, trying to stall him. He knows that Ronon would never hurt a woman, but the way he's charging up to the lounge can scare anyone half to death.

"I dunno. I'll figure that part out when I get there." Ronon says gruffly. He spots her immediately, talking to two of her sidekicks, as Rodney would call them. Giggling and pointing at a scientist quietly reading a book.

"Typical." Sheppard snorts. "I feel like I'm back in high school."

"Who's back in high school?" Rodney asks, appearing out of nowhere, a tablet in hand.

"We all are." Sheppard replies.

"What's going on." Rodney asks.

"Just watch."

Ronon steps in front of Charlotte, leans over her, as she's sitting on one of the couches. Thinking it's a social call, Charlotte stretches upwards to get closer to him puts a hand on his chest and smiles seductively.

Adriana and Sarah wide-eyed at the public display. Unbeknownst to Ronon and Charlotte Jennifer had just walked in the lounge, witnessing the whole episode. Ronon's back to her and Charlotte covered by him. She knows exactly who he's talking to, of course. The two snickering women giving it away. They are obviously laughing at Jennifer. Unable to leave, her exit blocked by the crowd that just walked through the doors. Rooted to the spot, not knowing what to do.

Sheppard comes up behind her. "I wouldn't worry about it, Doc." He reassures her. She turns slightly to look at him, giving him weak smile.

"Nice to have you back, Colonel." She tells him, her gaze returning to them.

"Good to be back." He replies.

--

"Hey sweetie, heard you just got back. Need a back rub?" Charlotte purrs, caressing his chest with one hand, making small circles on the back of his hand that's settled on the arm of the couch, supporting his weight. He pushes her back onto the couch and slaps her hand away from his. She frowns at him, confused. "Well, if you like to play rough, all you have to do is ask." Smiling, a twinkle in her eye.

"You have ten seconds to tell me why you've been spreading rumors about us." He asks her in an angry low voice but loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, especially since everyone's attention is focused on the pair. Her face turns pale at his words. Turning to her right, looking for back up, her cowardly friends have already backed away to the far corner of the room leaving her all alone. Deciding that she's can't answer, he says to her "There is no us. Got that? There never was, and there never will be." He pushes away from her, straightening. She just sits there, frozen and embarrassed.

Ronon turns around, not at all surprised that Jennifer was there. He sensed her, smelled her unique scent. He wasn't sure at first, but now he knows that she witnessed everything. Glad that it happened, at least now she'll believe him. He strides towards her, and grabs her hand. Pulling her along with him, pushing through the swarm of people.

A pair of blue eyes glued on their retreating backs. Cursing them both. Hating her for stealing him, hating him for embarrassing him.

TBC.

_Notes: _

_Lt. Tyler is really harmless. He's just a bit inappropriate, and doesn't even know it. _

_However, Charlotte, what can I say about Charlotte? She's the girl you love to hate. She's that vindictive and insecure girl back in high school who made herself feel better by picking on other people. Fortunately for me, the 'IT' girl in my school was my sister, and she wasn't at all insecure about herself, neither was she vindictive, she was in fact our school's sweetheart. In short I've never experienced ever being bullied. To be honest I was quite popular, I did use my popularity to defend the "underdog" as you would call the socially-challeged and mentally-superior. I watch too much T.V. and too many movies. So that is where I get my inspiration for molding Charlotte. She can be whoever you want. Your lab partner, neighbor, a cheerleader, the homecoming queen or even your bestfriend (or rather your ex-bestfriend)._

_Contrary to popular belief, not all beautiful people are mean. Jennifer Keller is obviously beautiful, a lot of people have portrayed her as unpopular and all that, that she was the "underdog". I see her differently though. I see her as confident, but not overly confident, she knows her limits. If she's challenged to do something, she's skeptical at first, but if pushed a little further, she comes through. She wasn't bullied when she was younger. But Charlotte, as I said earlier, is that girl who likes to put people down just make herself feel better. And that especially includes women she knows can compete with her. At least that's how I see Jennifer Keller._

_I tried to make it seem like they're not in high school. But let's face it, for those of you over 18, reading this story, life will always be like high school. I'm 25 and still feel immature about a lot of things. Like that song by Bowling for Soup goes… "High school never ends!"_


	14. Dream Lover

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

_Tag to Tabula Rasa…_

"Hey Doc." A low voice says to her as she's picking up a tray. Instantly knowing who it is she whirls around to smile at him.

"Hey Ronon, what's up?" Grabbing Smiling up at him.

"Nothing. Just wanted to find out how you're doing." Ronon says, grabbing a tray for himself. Dumping all sorts of food onto it.

"I'm doing good. You?" She asks him as they head for a table out on the balcony. He pulls up a chair for her. She finds this so charming, she smiles sweetly up at him. "Thanks." He takes the seat at the end of the table beside her.

"So, um, doc, we never really got a chance to talk, you know, about…"

At that precise moment, McKay, Sheppard and Teyla pop up to join them, annoying Ronon. Taking their seats, Sheppard across from Jennifer, Teyla to his right and McKay on the empty seat beside Jennifer.

"McKay, shouldn't you be with Katie?" Ronon gruffly says.

"I got hungry." McKay replies.

"That didn't stop you from eating by her bedside yesterday." An irate Jennifer says, making a face.

"Yeah, but she's doing better now. You know, with everything that happened, I feel like a new man. Better. Don't you?"

"McKay, we just lost our memories." Sheppard says with an exasperated sigh. "It's not like we were brought back from the dead."

Ronon's eating his food, glancing at Jennifer from time to time. Jennifer keeps blushing, picking at her food. Thinking about what he just said to her before the intrusion. He finds it amusing that she flushes for no reason at all. Noticing that she takes out the pickles and onions from the sandwich that she picked up. She sets them aside on an empty saucer, ignoring them. Ronon spears them with his fork and puts them in his sandwich instead. She thanks him for that and he just grins at her. The exchange not going unnoticed by Teyla and Sheppard. The two give each other a knowing look.

Rodney is as usual oblivious to what's going on. Concentrating on his food, he suddenly says "So do either of you actually remember when you started losing your memories?" Waving his fork at Sheppard and Jennifer, his mouth full of steak and mashed potatoes.

"I dunno, Ronon says it started gradually. Said I was surprised that I activated the Jumper." Sheppard says as he takes a drink from his soda. "Damn good thing we took that picture of myself."

"It probably would've been easier if we took photographs of myself and Ronon since we were immune." Teyla suggested.

"True, but then nothing is ever easy out here." Sheppard says with a shrug.

"What about you, Jennifer?" Rodney asks.

"I think it started when Ronon came back to check on me. He said that I already had taken some blood samples and I didn't remember." Jennifer replies.

"Some of the others say they can't remember anything from the time they were infected. But I remember almost everything." Rodney says, still chewing on a piece of meat. "At least I think I remember everything."

"Well from what I gathered, it seemed like it hit us differently. I for one can only remember up to the point of our meeting at Col. Carter's office. I think some time after that I was brought back here with everyone else." Jennifer says, frowning.

"What's wrong Jennifer?" Teyla asks, concerned.

"Oh, nothing.." Then changing her mind "Just, just that I feel like I'm missing something." Ronon stops chewing for a moment. John notices this and kicks him under the table, Ronon looks up from his food at Sheppard. Sheppard shoots him a questioning look. He just grins and shakes his head. Jennifer looks at them both, curious as to what their silent conversation is about, but continues talking to Teyla, although her eyes shift back and forth between Ronon and Sheppard. "I think that there is something really important that happened while I was infected. According to Col. Carter, I was stunned when we were all trying to escape. Got a little cut from my fall." Rubbing the back of her head.

The conversation continues. Sheppard kicks Ronon under the table again, trying to get his attention, whispering "You know anything about…" Nodding his head toward Jennifer. Ronon just shakes his head again, leans back against his chair, stretching his legs, one of which brushes against Jennifer's.

Looking at him, Jennifer notices that he's staring off into space. Lost in thought.

**Flashback to two days before: **

"Lorne, do you have all the infected still quarantined in the mess hall?" Ronon asks as the walk down the hall.

"Uh… I believe so. Lieutenant, did we get all of them?" Lorne asks Lt. Kemp.

"I think some of them escaped. We didn't have time to bring them back to the mess hall." Kemp says.

"Let's just get back to the mess. I need to know if anyone got hurt." Ronon says nonchalantly. As they walk down the hallway to the mess, he sees a crumpled figure to his right. He recognizes the form as Jennifer, he runs towards her body. Kneeling down beside her, he slowly turns her from her side to face him, supporting her neck. He feels thick liquid trickling down from behind her head. Blood. "Get me a med kit!" Ronon yells.

A marine starts running down to the infirmary. "You don't have to get one from the infirmary. There should be one in every corner."

Hearing this, the marine turns to his left and finds an emergency med kit in a discreet panel. Grabbing it and running back to Ronon, opening it up for him.

"What the hell happened here, Lorne?" Ronon growls out.

"I think one of us stunned her. They were trying to get away." He tries to explain.

Ronon calms himself down, reminding himself that they were under the influence of the stimulants. "Just get to the mess, transfer the ones in critical condition back to the infirmary. Look for Dr. Baxter, tall lanky guy with red hair and a lab coat." Lifting Jennifer to press the gauze against her head. Grabbing a bandage, he wraps it around her." I'll be taking her to my room, I'm pretty sure the sickbay is gonna be full. Marie, she's a nurse. Find a girl with black shoulder-length hair and almond-shaped eyes. Escort her back to my room." Giving Lt. Kemp directions to his quarters. "Tell her what the situation is, she'll know what to do."

Carefully picking Jennifer up, he walks to the transporter, taking big steps, wanting to lay her down comfortably as soon as he can. As they reach his quarters, the med kit in one hand, he sets her on her feet, his one arm wrapped around her waist to keep her from slumping over. He activates his door, and it hisses open. He lifts her up in his arms again, walking through the entrance. Ronon, lays her on his bed. Grabbing a small towel and wetting it. Then he sits beside her on the bed, lifting her head, turning her slightly to take the bandage and gauze off. Cleaning around her injury, he breathes a sigh of relief seeing that it's only a cut. Taking the antiseptic from the kit, he applies it on her scalp. Laying another fresh gauze on it, and wrapping her head once again. He hears his door chime, walks to the door and finds Lt. Kemp and Marie standing there. He then remembers that he ordered Kemp to get Marie. He lets her in, asking her to check on Jennifer.

Not knowing what exactly to do, Marie just inspects the bandages and asks Ronon how bad her injury is. Satisfied with his answer, she tells him that she doesn't really know what to do. "However I suggest you try waking her up. I don't think it's a good idea for her to be asleep, at least not for an hour." And with that she leaves with Lt. Kemp.

Grabbing a bottled water from the tiny refrigerator that Sheppard gave him for 'Christmas', he settles himself on the bed, waking her. She wakes up with a start, not knowing where she was. "What…? What's going on? Where am I? Who are you?" Jennifer asks, confused. He's a bit hurt that she doesn't remember him.

"Okay, take it easy… You're safe now." Ronon says, looking down at her face, smoothing her forehead. "You just had a little accident. But you'll be fine. Can you sit up?" He asks her, his hand on her shoulder. She nods, bending her arms to lift her upper body to an upright position. His arm is behind her, helping her up. "Here," Twisting the cap off the water bottle and handing her two Ibuprofens "take this."

She finishes the whole bottle in one gulp. Gives a little burp and flushes. Her eyelids dip down for a bit, she's trying to stay awake. But she's exhausted, she starts to slump backward, but he catches her in time. "Whoa." Pulling her forward, then scooting over to sit behind her. His legs on either side of her. Pulling her against him, he leans back on the wall. Glad that she trusts him, even though she doesn't remember anything. He's pillowing her head with his shoulder, stroking the side of her face. "You have to stay awake, baby. You can't go to sleep."

She turns her head to look up at him. "Baby? Does that mean we're together? I'm sorry, I don't remember anything." Her eyes glistening.

"Sssh. It's okay. Just stay awake for me, at least for a few hours. Avoiding her question." He bends down to kiss her bandage-covered forehead. She smiles at him and turns to face forward. Placing her one hand on his hand that's caressing her face, and the other to snake around his other arm, hugging it to her chest. He can feel her falling asleep again, so he nudges her awake. "Baby, Jennifer, wake up."

"Mmm.. but I'm so tired, I can't seem to stay awake." Turning around, kneeling, and settling herself on his lap, she wraps her arms around his torso, burying her face in the crook of his neck, nuzzling the sensitive flesh behind his ear. He stiffens at her boldness… and innocence.

Pulling his knees up and carefully pushing her back against them. He sees her position and can imagine how uncomfortable she might be, with her knees bent and pressed against the mattress. So he pulls her legs from their place and wraps them around his hips. Holding her head he asks her "You awake, sweetheart?"

"I'm trying to be. Why can't I sleep?" she asks him back.

"Coz Marie said so."

"Who's Marie?"

"The head nurse." Nodding at his words.

"So how can I stay awake? Any suggestions?"

"Not really. I've never done this." He tells her quietly. Watching her eyes closely.

She shifts her position, making contact with the bulge in his pants. He grunts at this, closes his eyes. And forces himself not to harden, which is impossible. Just looking at her, all bedraggled and sleepy-eyed, makes him want her more than ever. _"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."_

Seeing the desire in his eyes ignites her own. She leans forward, touching the side of her face to him. Her chest against his. At the same time they turn their heads, their lips touching lightly. He's staring at her lips, she's watching him stare at them, she instinctively wets them with her tongue. This movement prompts him to take her mouth in his. Sucking her bottom lip, tracing his tongue along her teeth. She takes his tongue in her mouth, touching, caressing, sucking. His hands are on her back moving up and down, and inside when he finds the hem of her shirt. Massaging her ribs, slowly moving up. His thumbs brushing the undersides of her breasts. Grabbing fistfuls of his shirt, she presses against him, making him even stiffer. Their kissing hungrily now, panting and moaning heavily. Shes rocking her hips against him, squeezing her legs around him. With perfected skills, he quickly turns her over to her back, her legs still around his hips, hovering above her. His thumbs work their way underneath her bra, pushing it up over her breasts, cupping her mounds, eliciting a low and sexy moan from her. Pinching her tight buds, rubbing them raw. Wanting more, he lifts up her shirt, taking in the beautiful sight in front of him before he takes them in his mouth. Licking one nipple, sucking and swirling it in his mouth, his hand kneading one breast, squeezing and pinching. Transferring to the other breast he pinches the wet nipple, rolling it around his fingers and pushing her breast up. Sucking on her breast, nips on the nipple and tugs gently. "God, Jennifer…" Her skin so smooth and soft, he continues to love her breasts.

Her legs still wrapped around his hips, she grinds her hips against his. Pushing at his penis. "Make love to me please…" She begs him, bringing him out of his trance. He lifts his head from her chest, pulls her bra and shirt down to cover her up. Loosens her legs from his hips. He kisses her forehead and says "Not yet, baby. Now's not the right time."

She's already asleep. He's relieved that she is, then she wouldn't be embarrassed about the rejection. He didn't actually reject her. He wants her so bad, but it just doesn't seem right. He doesn't want to take advantage of her current state. Soon. Soon he'll have her. And when she's ready and willing, and when everything is perfect. He moves to her side, sliding his arm underneath her neck, pulling her against him, letting her rest for a bit.

Once he's sure that she's okay, he carries her to the infirmary, finding an empty bed. He sets her down and then pulls up a chair, and sits there until she wakes up. She finds him sitting by her, asleep on the chair. His hand resting on one of hers. She squeezes it lightly, not wanting to wake him, but wanting to know it's real. She just had the strangest dream.

_For some reason she knows she's safe with him. And that he loves her. She straddles his hips, leaning forward to nuzzle him. He pushes her back against his knees. He's staring at her with passion-filled eyes. She can't help it, she rocks her hips. She leans forward, and turns her face to kiss him. They kiss sweetly at first, and then with more passion. And then he starts to caress her flesh. Rubbing and stroking. Causing her to shiver. He's cupping her breasts after he moves her bra aside. Her breath quickens, lifting her hips up from the bed. He lifts her up and lies on top of her. Pushes her shirt up and makes love to her breast. Wanting more of him, she pleads with him to make love to her… _

Next thing she knows she's in the infirmary, with Ronon holding her hand. It was all a dream. A very vivid dream.

**Back to the Present:**

Realizing where he was, Ronon clears his throat. A bit uneasy. He looks at Jennifer, whose face is flushed.

After lunch, Jennifer is walking back to the infirmary. She couldn't help overhear those 2 marines at lunch, relay their story to two pretty scientists, obviously showing off.

"… _Yeah, had to get Nurse Marie, too. Yelled out her name right here at the mess…"_

"_This butthead actually forgot that nobody would know their names." One of the other marines said._

"_The stimulants were wearing off. But luckily I remembered Ronon's description of her. So I took her back to Ronon's room to check up on Dr. Keller. She had a concussion from her fall…"_

Jennifer blanched at this information. _"Shit! It wasn't a dream after all."_

TBC.

_Note: I figured that they never really mentioned what the after effects were, so I just made one up. That it affected people differently, and like what happened with Keller, she never remembered anything that happened during the infection._


	15. When She's Ready

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

_Tag to Missing…_

Ronon and Sheppard spot both women tucked in a corner out in the hallway, quietly speaking. Jennifer's shaking her head, clearly disagreeing to whatever Teyla is saying. As the men approach them, they stop talking, guilt evident in their eyes.

"Ladies." Sheppard says, his eyebrow cocked up in question. Ronon just leans his shoulder on the wall, two feet away from Jennifer. The women look at each other, Teyla turns back to Sheppard.

"John." Smiling uneasily. "Jennifer and I were just talking."

"Care to share?" Sheppard asks.

"Um… just um, girl stuff. Nothing you'd be interested in." Jennifer quickly answers. Avoiding John's eyes. Then looking at Ronon who's studying her face, flushing, she looks down at her feet instead. _"Dammit!"_

"Okay…" Sheppard says, drawing the word out slowly, not convinced. "Well, I came to get you." Referring to Teyla. "Col. Carter needs to see you. Where's your comm.?" He asks her as they walk down the hallway to meet with Samantha, leaving Jennifer and Ronon.

As soon as their out of earshot, Ronon asks Jennifer, "So what was that really all about?" Pushing himself away from the wall. "Dinner?" He asks her, pointing to the mess.

"Yeah, sure." Jennifer says as she walks with him, still noticing the many stares they both get from both men and women. "Nothing." Ronon looks at her skeptically. "It's not my place to tell, and let's leave it at that, okay?" Hating that she's keeping this from him.

"_He and Teyla are so close, he deserves to know. But I can't tell him, but I want to."_ Lately they both have been getting along so well. Just talking about little things. Mostly him listening. She talks about movies and stuff. To him, she's like Sheppard, only a girl. Sort of close friends, although, they still haven't talked about the 'thing' between them. Not knowing what to call it. Not acknowledging it loudly, but silently knowing it exists. For now it's good. They're slowly getting to know each other, but not the intimate details. Just fun stuff. Watching movies, eating together. He still goes to the infirmary at least three or four times a week to get patched up, and he specifically asks for her. Growling at anyone who goes near him. When she's busy with a patient, usually Rodney, he patiently waits for her. He even picks her up from the infirmary when he wants to go grab a bite to eat. On their days off together they sit in the lounge, reading and sharing a snack. Only a few know that it goes deeper than friendship. Most people have gotten used to the idea of them being constantly together, like best friends. Which is why some of the female personnel still try to get his attention, which goes the same for the men trying to flirt with her.

As they enter the mess hall, Ronon grabs two trays and hands her one. Picking out the food they like, Ronon uses the extra space on her tray to pile some of his food. Grabbing her tray with his other hand while she grabs two bottles of soda they both head to their favorite table out on the balcony, away from all the hustle and bustle of the cafeteria. A routine for them both. A nice, companionable and satisfying routine. And for some reason he would always take the seat next to her. If someone has already taken the seat beside her, he would stand there, waiting until the other person would notice. Teyla was the only one he let sit beside her. They'd grown accustomed to him taking food from her plate, even if it isn't the one he placed there. Jennifer loved the simple and unconscious move. It made having meals seem really intimate.

"So how was your trip back to Earth?" Ronon asks her, breaking the silence. Watching her carefully. When they had gone missing he got really worried. She's not used to being off-world. Teyla was capable of taking care of herself and anybody who she's with. But when it comes to Jennifer, he'd rather be the one by her side. When they found both women, his heart almost broke as he saw the fear in her eyes. When the Bola Kai attacked all he could think of was to get her out of there. He usually covers all of them, being the one to fight back. But a need to protect her impelled him to grab her arm and run with her, not wanting Jennifer to get hurt even more. As soon as they were through the gate, He picked her slight frame up onto his arms and carried her to the infirmary followed by John and a beat-up Teyla. Rodney just sat in the middle of the gate room thanking God that an arrow didn't get his ass this time.

It didn't take long for them to examine her and put her foot in a cast. It was just a sprained ankle. But she needed to rest for a bit. Teyla was confined to the infirmary until she healed up. So Sheppard stayed by her side, quietly. Worried about her.

Ronon helped Jennifer back to her room, supporting her along the way. She refused his offer to carry her. When Ronon thinks back to that day, he could see the guilt in her eyes. She felt bad that she couldn't help her and Tyela's situation, felt that it was somehow her fault. He tried to reassure her. But she needed to hear it from Teyla, she said. That's when they ran into Col. Carter. Right there she asked her if she could let her see her father for a bit. To be able to return to earth and recuperate. Permission was granted.

During the time she was gone, Ronon was bored out of his mind. He didn't know what to do with himself. Finding excuses to go off-world. Unfortunately almost every mission for the whole time she was gone were done for political reasons.

**Flashback to Four Days Before:**

By the 8th day of her absence he found himself sitting out on 'her' balcony. For some reason he felt compelled to come out here. Maybe it's because he knew she was coming back the next day. He could hardly sit still during their meeting with Col. Carter. He was too wound up, he's finally gonna see her. He didn't spar at all while she was gone, coz. she was the only one who would patch him up. He tried to spar the first day, getting his frustrations out, when he went to the infirmary, Marie was the one who sutured him, but she told him that he better not do it again, coz she's not Dr. Keller, and he just might have to bleed to death. He just smiled at her and revealed that he only did that to see Jennifer, and Marie said that she's always known anyway.

Looking out over the water, Ronon's mind kept going back to her. Rehearsing whatever he's wanted to say to her since he realized how he felt about her. Trying to imagine what she would say back to him. For days he was worried that she wouldn't want to come back here. That she would make her decision to stay on Earth. He couldn't blame her. The stress that she has to carry everyday. The things that have happened to her, especially when she went missing. She's strong, but if he were in her place, and he had the choice to live peacefully, he'd take it. At first he thought that he wanted to kill every wraith in the galaxy. But ever since they met, he realizes now that there is something else to live for, and that there is hope.

Sensing someone behind him, he doesn't even have turn around to know who it is. Her powdery and minty scent fills his nose. Surprise mixed with pleasure at the pit of his stomach, he calls out "I thought you were scheduled to come home tomorrow?"

Butterflies start flitting in her stomach when she notes his use of 'home'. She stands by him, her forearms resting on the railing. "Wanted to come back. I missed this place." She looks at him, his eyebrow raised, half-amused smile touching his lips. "I know, it's only been six days and already I wanted to come back." She sighs.

There's something else in her voice. A little bit of sadness and anxiety. A hint of relief, maybe. He's not sure. He doesn't want to press her though. It's enough that she's here beside him. At least for now. _"She'll tell me when she's ready"._

They stand there for a long time. Silently enjoying each others' company.

**Back to the Present:**

"My trip?" Jennifer repeats. "Oh you, know, this and that."

"Are you ok? You've been acting…" Searching for the right words. "different. Since you got back, you've hardly spoken a word to me. You're distant. I'm not the only one who's noticed either."

Shifting in her seat, she looks down at her food. "I'm good. Really."

"Are you? Did I do something wrong. I mean, before you left we were fine. We were okay, weren't we?" Doubt lacing his voice.

Unconsciously, Jennifer lays her hand on his thigh. "Oh God, no! I mean, yeah, we're totally okay." She notices him looking down and sees that she's got her hand resting on his thigh. She quickly takes it back, flushing and turning back to her food. "Really, we're fine. It's just that… it's just my dad. I went back to see my dad. But apparently he had other plans." Nodding her head, her lips pursed. "When I came back he was already packing. He met someone. And they were going on a trip. Serves me right for not letting him know I was coming." Looking at Ronon, she sees him watching her intently with his beautiful green eyes.

"Couldn't he postpone his trip?" Ronon asked, knowing exactly how she felt.

"He wanted to. But he seemed so happy with her. I didn't have the heart to ask him to stay. The trip is a once in a lifetime kinda thing. I just thought that I could spend more time with him." Then she shrugs. "So I called the SGC requesting that I return early. And then…" She stops.

"And then what?"

"Never mind." She says firmly but turns her head to smile at him. "I'm okay really."

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" Ronon says to her as he angles his body towards her, his one arm on the back of her chair.

Smiling at him and patting his hand that's resting on the table she replies "Yes, I do."

Breaking their gaze, Radek and Rodney plop down onto the seats in front of them. Blathering, with the occasional insults, as usual. Ronon lets out an exasperated sigh, slouching back on his seat. Jennifer just giggles. Peeling her orange, she accidentally squirts a tiny amount of juice at Rodney, making him wince and then glare at her.

Grabbing a napkin he dampens it with water and wipes himself, earning a are-you-for-real look from Jennifer, and an amused smile from Ronon.

"Ayayay! Those new recruits are driving me nuts!" Radek whines. "They keep touching things they shouldn't even be looking at."

"Hmmph! I know." Rodney agrees. "One of them even tried turning on one of the machines we found in the lower parts of the city. Stupid idiot."

"Don't tell me, it's the tall guy who thinks he's such a god just coz almost all of the female staff are falling at his feet, the one with the shaved head. Typical." Radek grumbles some more in his Czech language.

"As much as I hate to admit it, I can't say the same for John or Ronon here. They've got women chasing after them all the time but they never take advantage of that."

"Well we know why they don't." Radek says matter-of-factly.

"True." Rodney says. Jennifer and Ronon just sit there listening to the two scientists talk as if they're not sitting right in front of them. Shaking their heads.

"Ruiz." Rodney says with a snap of his fingers, then wagging his finger "Ramon, Ramon Ruiz, the self-proclaimed God. Jennifer tenses at this. Shifting uncomfortably, she moves closer to Ronon as if by instinct. Ronon notices this and nudges her with his elbow, a questioning look on his handsome face. She just shakes her head no. Not wanting to pressure her since she's already revealed enough for the day, he lets it go this time, again. But vowing to get it out of her soon.

"Teyla, hi! So have you thought about it?" Jennifer asks when she finds Teyla in the lounge.

"Yes, and I'm still waiting for the right time." Teyla replies in a low voice.

"Teyla I don't think that there is ever a right time." Jennifer says in an equally low voice. "Look I'm just concerned that you may hurt yourself in one of your missions. It's not just yourself you have to think about now."

"I am being extra careful,l Jennifer. Don't worry about me." Smiling at the her, grateful that she's not just being concerned as a doctor but also as a friend. "Speaking of worry…" Teyla begins carefully, not sure she should be asking "Are you feeling alright? You seem very distracted lately. Not from your work, but from other things."

"Did Ronon ask you to ask me?" Jennifer asks.

"No. I have noticed myself when you got back from earth. Although, Ronon has mentioned that you've been somewhat detached." Seeing a slight elation in Jennifer's eyes in knowing that Ronon had noticed, she continued on. "He's been worried, you know. He didn't come right out and say it, you know how he is. He doesn't say much. But you can see it in his eyes, his actions. And he's been watching you closely. I guess it is safe to assume that you haven't told him yet?"

Jennifer shakes her head 'no'. "I want to. Actually I told him a little bit. But not everything. And I want to tell you, too. But…"

"But you want to tell him first, and to do that you want to know exactly what to say." Teyla finishes for her.

"Yes. And the great thing about Ronon is that he never once pressured me to tell him. He's been really patient with me."

"That's Ronon alright. But my advice to you is don't wait too long to tell him what's going on. Don't wait too long to tell him anything that you might _feel._" Giving more meaning to her last statement.

**Flashback to 11 Days Ago:**

"Dr. Keller, how was your trip?" General Landry asks Jennifer after she's beamed down to the SGC.

"Well, just like before. Still don't like being cooped up for twenty-four hours. I'm just glad I brought a book with me." Jennifer responds.

"Standard procedure, doctor. But at least you're out now. The transportation taking you to the jet that's taking you back to Chippewa Falls will be ready in an hour. Unfortunately there was some trouble getting here. I know you'd like to get back home as soon as possible…"

"It's quite alright sir. I think I might just grab something to eat." Smiling at the General.

"Okay, let me just escort you to the mess hall then." Gen. Landry says. "Didn't you work here for a little bit, Dr. Keller?"

"I did, for at least a month. A year before I even went to join the expedition. Then I got transferred, and then as soon as I was available they sent me to Atlantis." Jennifer explained.

"You've worked with some of the doctors here then?" He assumes. Jennifer makes a face.

"Unfortunately, sir, yes." The general raises his eyebrow at this. She just shrugs, not wanting to elaborate.

As they reached the mess hall, the general bids her goodbye and leaves her to her snack. Finding a secluded table, she grabs her book from her backpack and starts to read.

Jennifer isn't one to eavesdrop, but she couldn't help overhearing the next table.

"So who else is being transferred to Atlantis?" A female scientist asks another.

"No doctors this time. Marines and airmen only. Ross, um, Finley, and damn…" The other scientist said with disappointment in her voice. "Ruiz. He requested for a transfer." Jennifer stiffens at the name, and then relaxes.

"_Ruiz is a common name. What are the chances that he's still active? The man is a cocky bastard; he could've been thrown out of the Marine Corps even before I went to Atlantis."_ Jennifer thought.

"Ah, Ramon…" Sighs the red-headed scientist. Jennifer could almost feel the bile in her mouth when the scientist contradicts her thoughts.

"Hey so how did you manage to sleep with him… twice? Isn't he suppose to be engaged or something?" The brunette says as she stares at her sandwich and wiggles her nose in disgust.

"Easy, he was sleeping with some other girl and he got caught. So she broke their engagement. So now he's free as a bird." The red-head says. "Look out women of Atlantis! Maybe I should put in a request for transfer." She added thoughtfully.

Jennifer can't believe her ears. _"Of all people to be transferred, why him? That bastard caused a lot of trouble for me. Not to mention whoever his teammates were at the time whenever he went off-world. Coincidentally, he always came back unscathed." _Picking up her tray, she hastily leaves. Not wanting to hear anymore. _"If he does go to Atlantis, at least I have the upper hand this time. This time, I'm not the newbie anymore. This time I'm CMO." _She thinks to herself with confidence.

Back at the midway station, seven days later, Jennifer's confidence dwindles. "This can't be happening. By the time I get there, he's already made some friends. And… oh God! Ronon… no, I know Ronon. At least I think I do. Oh shit! What if he believes him? What if… Shit! Shit! Shit! I should not have left Atlantis!"

Twenty four hours later, back on Atlantis, Jennifer is beamed down by the Daedalus. Col. Carter and Col. Sheppard greet her upon arrival. After welcoming her back, she walks towards the living quarters. Wanting to settle down and take a shower first.

Glad to be home, she unpacks her clothes. And sets aside the things she bought for her friends. After a quick shower, she dons some sweats and a long sleeved crewneck shirt, and then sets of to find Ronon. Luckily she bumps into John in the corridor.

"I have to say, Jennifer, we're really glad to have you back." Widening his eyes suggestively. Jennifer looks at him weirdly, not knowing what he meant. "Oh, it's just that Ronon's been, well, difficult. He's restless. Anyway, I'll let you catch up with him yourself. So where are you off to?"

"Actually I was looking for Ronon." She smiles sheepishly. Sheppard beams at this.

"That's good then. He'll be in a better mood by tomorrow. I believe I saw him go off to the infirmary, or at least towards that direction." Sheppard says. "I wouldn't be surprised if you find him over at that balcony you like to hang out at. He's been there a lot lately."

Jennifer nods at this information and thanks him. Then walks down in the direction of the balcony. She finds Ronon standing by the railing, proving Sheppard right.

**Back to the present:**

Pacing back and forth in her quarters, Jennifer is trying to decide whether to tell Ronon all of it or not. So far, she hasn't heard any gossip. And fortunately, Ramon hasn't seen her. Every time he goes to the infirmary she's off duty. No rumors about her. But that doesn't mean that it might never happen. Making up her mind, she musters up all the courage she's got and marches out of her room, determined to set things right.

Standing in front of his door, Jennifer can't seem to activate the door chime. She jumps when she feels a set of hands land on her shoulders.

"Easy doc." Steadying her. She turns around to look at him. "Looking for me?"

"Yes I was… am." She confirms. "Can we talk?"

"_Finally."_ Wordlessly, Ronon activates his door and pushes her through. Sitting on his bed, watching her.

She paces around his room. Not knowing what to say. How to start. She then feels him tug on her hand, pulling her to sit beside him. Relaxing, she sinks in. Taking a deep breath she starts to say something then stops. She looks around the room. Then turns her head to look at his bed, then snaps her head back, her eyes wide. _"Oh God… It really… really… really wasn't a dream."_ Starting to panic again.

"_Shit… she knows. She knows what happened here. If I don't react, then she'll think nothing happened… maybe."_ Nudging her, he reminds her "You were about to tell me something."

Shaking her head, she takes another deep breath. "Right, right." She then proceeds to tell him what's been bothering her.

TBC.

_Note: The timeline is a bit confusing. So just to make it clear, Jennifer spent 1 day at the midway station coming back from Atlantis, six days in Wisconsin, another day at the midway station heading back to Atlantis. So that makes eight days. Plus the four days after she arrived._

_So far, her relationship with Ronon seems to be that of really good friends. Nothing too intimate. But close. He hasn't really opened up, neither has she. They're both at the stage where they're comfortable with each other, but when they get really close, they become really awkward._


	16. A Little Bit of Hope

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

_Tag to The Seer…_

"So you still don't believe in fortune telling and all that?" Ronon asks McKay as they train in gym. Ronon's blocking McKay's move.

"I do and I don't." McKay says, trying his best to hit Ronon with his bantos rod. Ronon just gives him a confused look. "It's hard to explain." Rodney says, then asks "Why? Do you actually really believe in this mumbo jumbo?"

"So what if I do?" Ronon says challengingly. Jumping back to avoid a jab.

"I dunno, I mean, you of all people… I mean, I never thought that you would believe in those things." McKay explains, as he swings his towards Ronon.

"A lot of weird things happen in this galaxy McKay. You should know that by now." Ronon says as he blocks another blow "Time travelling, wraith, cloning…"

"Yeah but that's all science. All those things have logical explanations." Rodney puts in. "Fortune telling… that's, well, different."

"Just go with it McKay." Ronon says ducking from a wild swing of Rodney's bantos rod.

"So did you ever have that back in Sateda? Fortune telling, I mean." Rodney asks him.

"Nope. From what I've seen so far from Earth, Sateda was a lot like it, but not as advanced. We don't talk…" searching for the right word "…funny. No formal speeches or what not."

"We have fortune tellers back on earth." Rodey says, crinkling his nose.

"You do? And you still don't believe in it?"

"Not really. Still skeptical about it. So you do, don't you." Rodney assumes.

"Now more than ever…" Ronon says absently, his thoughts drifting back.

**Flashback to four days before:**

"Hey doc." Ronon says from behind Jennifer. She's sitting on a stool, working on her computer. She swivels around to find him leaning against the doorframe.

"Ronon, hi!" Giving him a smile. "Need some patching up?"

"Not really." Ronon says sheepishly. "Ned you to set my shoulder back."

"Again?" Jennifer sighs, and then looks at him, shaking her head. She heads to the supply cabinet and grabs a box, that she put together just for this purpose… Ronon.

"You know the drill Ronon." Pointing at an Infirmary bed. Ronon smiles and hops on the bed, moving aside for Jennifer so she can climb up behind him.

She shakes her head no and tells him "You have to lay down this time." As he's laying on the bed she climbs up on his left side kneeling. Since the bed is too small for them both she has to lift her other leg over him, straddling him, her knees on either side of his ribs. Her hands braced against his rock-hard stomach for support.

Ronon shifts uncomfortably. _"If only we weren't here, but in my quarters."_ Jennifer doesn't notice this since she's on doctor mode. She bends down towards him, grabbing onto his uninjured shoulder, and setting her palm on the pillow above the injured one. He's breathing heavily now. _"Think of something else. Rodney. Wraith. Science. Reports…"_ But all he could think of is her scent. Her unique scent. At that very moment, Samantha and Woolsey walk in, intending to check on Davos' status. Wide-eyed at the awkward sight before them: A Dr. Keller on all fours, straddling Ronon, leaning over him, her hands on either side of his head, her face a mere inches form him.

Gripping his arm with both hands, she bends it at his elbows. "Ronon." She says, not looking at his face. "I want you to resist."

"Resist?" Not knowing what she meant. All sorts of thoughts cross his mind.

"Your shoulder, hold it back. Resist. So I can pop it back in, okay?" And then she pulls his arm really hard, a pop goes off, setting his shoulder in place. But she pulls so hard that she falls right onto his crotch. Ronon shuts his eyes in prayer, which alarms Jennifer. She moves forward, unconsciously sliding up his length "Oh my God, Ronon, did I hurt you? Where does it hurt?" Her hands running all over him. Checking his shoulder once more, her face so close to his, he turns his head to look into her eyes, she turns to look at him at the same time.

"_God, Jennifer, if you only knew."_ A hungry look in his eyes. She gasps.

"Ahem." A throat clears. It's uncertain whether it's Woolsey or Carter. Jennifer scrambles off the bed, but her foot gets caught underneath Ronon's thigh, causing her to fall. But Ronon's reflexes are quick, he grabs her waist just in time, rolling the both of them together so that he cushions her fall and she's sprawled all over him. Every person present in the room witnesses this. Some stifling their giggles, others wide-eyed, some looking away, not wanting to make their CMO more uncomfortable than she already is.

Lifting Jennifer up slowly from him, he gets up, pulling her along, steadying her. Jennifer arranges her uniform, tucks her hair behind her ear giving Woolsey and Samantha a sheepish smile. "Mr. Woolsey, Col. Carter… was just resetting Ronon's shoulder… again." Torn between continuing to treat Ronon's shoulder and reporting her findings, Jennifer chooses the former and instructs Ronon to sit back on the bed. Massaging some ointment on his shoulders and asking him if he feels anything. Wanting to know if he needs a sling or not. He shakes his head 'no'. Then sends him off. He gives his thanks and nods at Woolsey and Col. Carter, and saunters off.

Jennifer leads Samantha and Woolsey to the computer she was working on before Ronon came in. But before he can leave he sees Davos beckoning him too come closer. Scratching his head, he walks towards Davos.

"How you feeling?" Ronon asks the ailing man.

"Well, not too good. But that isn't why I called you here." Davos says to Ronon. Ronon looks at him skeptically, then moves closer. "Give me your hand."

"Why?" Ronon simply asks.

"Because out of everyone in the city, you're the one who has lost the most. Suffered long. I believe you deserve something in return. You need a little bit of hope." Davos says as he holds out his hands. Ronon hesistates. Then turns around to look longingly at Jennifer. She's caught up in a conversation with Woolsey and Col. Carter. Then makes his decision and gives his hand to Davos.

--

_"Asia, you should really focus. Meditation takes time." Teyla says to a pretty brunette 14-year old girl in a long sleeved cotton tunic and linen pants._

_"But I just end up falling asleep, Aunt Teyla." The young girl whines. _

_A knock on the door and a 15 year old dark blond head pops up, "Asia, you ready? Mom wants us home in time for dinner. Aunt Teyla, I was wondering if maybe Torren could come with us, too."_

_"Actually, Marcus, your mother invited me to dinner, also." Getting up from her position, she blows out the candles and locks up the gym. Asia and Marcus are walking behind Teyla. _

_Walking towards, Teyla's car, Torren comes to greet them. For 17 he seems mature for his age. Torren glances at Asia, who has always been dense about these things. Something she inherited from her mother. "Torren why don't you ride with Marcus and Asia." Teyla suggests to her son. "Your father is already at your aunt's with Chris."_

_"Okay Mother." Torren agrees. Opening the car door for Asia, his hand at the small of her back, treating her like a princess. Marcus just shakes his head, he's always known that his best friend has always been attracted to his sister, but has never really done anything about it. And as expected, his little sister is forever oblivious to whatever is happening around him._

_As they reach their house, Asia jumps out of the car and into the backyard where Ronon and John are barbequing, kissing both of them on the cheeks. She sits on the picnic table nibbling on a cob, spotting Uncle Rodney and his twins by the pool, she waves at them. The twins are at it again, annoying little chris. Torren walks in with Marcus, shaking the older men's hands. Torren sits on the bench by Asia's feet. She bends down to whisper in his ear "As much as I think Uncle Rodney is cool and all, the twins are really annoying. Their non-stop psycho-babble just drives me crazy sometimes. Bunch of know-it-alls! I swear one of these days..." Making a strangling gesture. Torren just laughs at this._

_"Hey, as long as Chris is around... you have nothing to worry about." Giving her a wink. But actually feeling sorry for his little brother. For the first time since he's known her, Asia actually blushes, making him smile even more. Nudging her leg to tease her._

_Jennifer walks out wearing a simple summer dress, her belly round. Carrying a big dish of sliced watermelon. Marcus and Teyla, right behind her, carrying more food out. Torren grabs the watermelon and sets it on the table, while John kneels down to belly height and splays his hands over Jennifer's belly. "Hey there Junior! Ready to come out of mommy's tummy?" Then John puts an ear on her belly in jest. "He says 'now'." John says as he looks up at Jennifer. Jennifer just smiles at him._

"_I would pop him out if I could… but… hmm," she sighs "I look like a cow." Jennifer says. She turns around and looks at her daughter as John stands up. "Asia, honey, why don't you help us out, okay? Run to the kitchen and grab some of the food. Come on." Asia gets up to do what she says, followed by Torren, who's ready to help her._

_"Geez, that kid is whipped!" John comments, shaking his head._

_"You spoil your daughter you know." Jennifer says as she looks up at her husband. Wrapping her arms around his torso. Tiptoeing to kiss him._

_"Like I spoil you..."_

**Back to Present:**

Thwack!

"Aaah!" Ronon yells. "What the?!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hit you!" Rodney screams, cowering in a corner.

"You hit me!" Ronon says again, patting his forehead and then looking at the blood on his fingers.

"I said I was sorry." Shrieks Rodney. "You seemed distracted."

"Well that's the whole point…"

"For you to be distracted?" Rodney asks with an incredulous look on his face.

"Yeah, I mean, no, no… yeah, you caught me off guard, so that's good." Ronon says as he throws down his bantos rods and walks out the gym heading straight for the infirmary, Rodney at his heels, panting, almost having a mental breakdown at the thought of hitting Ronon. Thinking that he was gonna beat him up for hitting him on the head.

As they reach the infirmary, Rodney walks faster, getting ahead of him. "I need something to calm me down!" Rodney says, hopping onto the bed and laying down.

Jennifer looks down at Rodney, and without looking at Ronon, asks "What did you do to him, Ronon?" Checking his pulse.

"Nothing." He simply says.

Jennifer looks up at him, her eyes widen as she sees his bleeding forehead. "What the hell happened to you?!" She asks in a shrilling voice, leaving Rodney's side and moving towards Ronon. Tiptoeing to get a closer look.

Rodney sits up, shouting "What about me?!"

"Karen, please give Rodney a valium." Then pulling Ronon to another bed, one that he seems to occupy every time he's in the infirmary. "What happened?"

Nodding his head towards Rodney, Ronon shrugs and gives her an sheepish smile. "Rodney?" She asks Ronon, amused. "You've got to be kidding me." Pushing him to lay down. Then turning to grab some gloves and her suturing kit. "How'd he do it?" She asks as she starts to clean the wound.

"Was distracted. He took me by surprise." Ronon says. Her face two inches above his. Her breath tickling his ear, sending shivers up his spine. Breathing deeply he shuts his eyes.

"So what was so distracting that Rodney actually got a lucky shot?" Jennifer teases.

"Lost in thought." He says, his eyes still shut.

"Really?" Jennifer says, chuckling. "If I recall, somebody actually told me so many times when I first got here to 'pay attention'. Before I got hurt" She says in a teasing tone.

"Smart person." Ronon says with a smile. Jennifer just giggles. Transfers the needle and thread to her other hand so she could turn to grab another piece of gauze on the tray to her side, causing her breasts to brush against his arm lightly. His breath hitches. Shutting his eyes even tighter, Ronon recalls the last images the seer helps him see.

--

_"You spoil your daughter you know." Jennifer says as she looks up at her husband. Wrapping her arms around his torso. Tiptoeing to kiss him._

_"Like I spoil you..." Ronon replies, smoothing her hair and then cupping her face for him to kiss._

"_You know you guys are gonna crush Junior if you keep going at it." John says as he throws his arm around Teyla's shoulders._

"_I really think that you should stop calling our unborn babies Junior. That baby inside Jennifer might actually turn out to be a Ronon Junior. I kinda don't want my girls being chased by a mini Ronon." Rodney says as he picks at a corn on a cob. "Look at your son." Rodney says, nodding towards Chris. "You kept calling him Junior, and see what happens, he's got my girls all over him already! And he's only 12! You're lucky, Jennifer, Marcus takes after you."_

"_What would be so bad about that?" Jennifer asks as she stares lovingly at Ronon. "Asia's so much like Ronon, and look at her." Jennifer says proudly as she turns around to look at Rodney._

"_Exactly." Rodney says matter-of-factly. Earning a death glare from both Ronon and John._

"_We didn't here you complaining when you finally got to hold Asia when she was born." Teyla teases. Rodney actually smiles at the memory._

_Teyla and Jennifer just exchange amused glances. Calling their children in unison. Asia and Torren come out carrying more food to the table. As everyone takes their seats and talking all at once, pretty soon the food's almost gone. At the same time, they all get a call from Atlantis base._

_Leaving Torren in charge of the children. John, Ronon, Rodney, Teyla and even Jennifer walk to the parked jumper and head for Atlantis. Hovering over Ronon and Jennifer's home, a twenty-four hundred square foot Mediterranean-inspired house built on the mainland not far off from Atlantis City. As they near the city, you can see several house and buildings in the background. Home to the Atlanteans. A larger city being built around the snowflake that housed the Stargate explorers when they first came to the Pegasus galaxy._

_--_

"Ronon?" Jennifer lightly nudges the Satedan. "Lost in thought again?" She asks him with a sweet smile.

Ronon looks up at her. A knowing smile on his lips. "Just thinking about the future." He says, giving her hand a squeeze as he gets up from the bed, leaving Jennifer puzzled once again.

TBC.

_Note: I didn't want to put two plots in this story. Might be a bit confusing. besides I wanted to concentrate on the premonition/prophecy plot. So you'll have to wait for the "Ramon" story. Don't worry, I've already got a plot for that. But it'll have to wait. Weekend's here, so... relaxing at the beach tomorrow! Til then, enjoy!_


	17. Confrontations

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

_Tag to Miller's Crossing…_

Walking to the briefing room, every Atlantis Personnel is awestruck at the sight before them. Jaws of every woman present, dropped down to the floor as they watch the tall studly Satedan saunter off.

Sheppard and McKay take the seats beside Teyla, while Ronon grabs the one by Keller. Before taking his seat he pats Jennifer gently on the back in greeting. Jennifer gasps as she looks up at him. She looks towards Teyla, surprise also evident on her face as they look at Ronon. Col. Carter, is obviously unaffected since being around Teal'c in public on earth required him to blend in with the civilians.

Jennifer nervously tucks her hair behind her ear and plays with her jacket zipper. Trying to concentrate on the report in front of her. Ronon, looks at her and asks "Are you okay?"

She nods almost too quickly. "Uhuh." Still avoiding his eyes. Ronon frowns at this and slouches back onto his chair. Feeling eyes on him he sees Sheppard wiggling his eyebrows as if to say 'I told you so'.

Jennifer gives him a sidelong glance. Observing him from head to toe. From his leather shoes, to his form fitting jeans, his dark blazer and his white crisp shirt, a few buttons open for comfort, and his dreads tied to the back of his head. _"God he looks like a perfect GQ model."_ She thinks to herself, biting her bottom lip. He feels her eyes on him, so he turns to look at her. She looks back down, she flushes at being caught. He smiles at her reaction, and Sheppard's insistence when they got back from Earth.

"_Ronon, buddy, trust me, don't change just yet. In fact I think you really should keep your clothes. Try to get a feel for them. You'll see what I mean later on." Sheppard says with a meaningful smile._

_They had just gotten beamed down to Rodney's lab by the Daedalus. They were ordered to write their reports as soon as possible then proceed to the briefing room. He had wanted to get a shower and change into more comfortable and practical garments. The only consolation for going straight into a debriefing is seeing Jennifer since she would need to know about the codes that 'Todd' had used. He had missed her while he was on earth. They weren't gone for too long. But being at the SGC and not having to talk to anyone but that gate technician who kept rambling on at the mess hall made him miss Atlantis… even Radek. He'd rather hear Jennifer scold him than read through reports and bullshit._

_Heading for the briefing room he bumps into a tall bald headed marine. Looking at the name tag on his uniform, he sees the name 'Ruiz' on it. Knowing exactly who he is, Ronon growls. Ruiz just looks at him arrogantly, but another marine, Ronon recognizes as Lt. Kemp slaps Ruiz on the back, chastising him._

_Giving the arrogant bastard a backward glance, Ronon thinks _"Finally."_ After almost a month and half, he's finally come face to face with the man that hurt Jennifer. Unfortunately, they didn't meet sooner. He's been off world a lot, and whenever he's on Atlantis, Ruiz is off-world or somewhere in Atlantis. Jennifer had asked him not to pursue Ruiz, not wanting to trigger rumors. For some reason, Jennifer has been able to avoid the marine._

Done with the briefing, everyone gets up to leave. Ronon slows down his pace to match Jennifer's. Nudging her lightly, he asks "So how's it going. Doc?"

"So far so good." Still avoiding his gaze. Walking down the stairs to head to the infirmary.

"Are you okay?" He asks her. Smiling still.

"I'm fine, why?" Jennifer asks, obviously flustered.

"Is it the clothes?" He teased.

"Huh… uh… uh." At a loss for words.

"I can take them off you know." Deliberately making it sound like a double entendre.

"_Oh God!"_Jenniferthinks to herself and blushes even more. "What? No, I mean, I'm just not used to seeing you in earth clothes. They look really… great on you." This time sounding more confident.

"Thanks." He says, and then pulling at the collar "I'm not comfortable in them, though. I think I look stupid."

"You don't. Trust me. Actually, I think you should keep them. You've attracted quite an audience." Nodding towards the group of women standing a few feet away from them.

Ignoring the women, Ronon focuses on Jennifer "That's what Sheppard said."

"Figures. Only John can think of subtle ways to attract women." Jennifer responds, chuckling and shaking her head.

"Nah. All he said was to keep the clothes. I think he meant that it would get your attention." Ronon tells her honestly without embarrassment. Jennifer misses a step and is only saved by Ronon's arm around her waist. "I guess he was right, then." Smiling naughtily. He hops up onto his favorite infirmary bed and readies himself for his routine check-up.

Breathing in, Jennifer grabs a pair of gloves and proceeds to do his check-up. On doctor-mode, Jennifer doesn't realize what she's doing to Ronon. He sighs at her touch. Thinking how bad he wants her to take her rubber gloves off to feel her skin against his. Taking in her scent, and watching every graceful movement.

Done with their check-ups, Sheppard suggests that they take their dinner. Inviting Jennifer to join them since her shift is done anyway. Teyla flanked by Sheppard and Rodney lead the way, while Ronon and Jennifer follow closely.

Ronon's telling her about the little things that happened back on earth, making Jennifer laugh. As they all grab trays and pile their food, Rodney goes ahead and picks out a table for them to occupy. They all sit down to tell each other about the days that went by, ending up as usual on the topic of movies, prompting John to suggest movie night.

Getting up to clear the table, they all decide to meet at Sheppard's quarters. Ronon walks Jennifer to her room. As they near her quarters, Ramon Ruiz hurriedly rounds the corner, almost running Jennifer down. Ronon pulls Jennifer against him to avoid being hit by the careless bastard.

Ruiz stops and turns around, his face flushed and his hands quickly and unsuccessfully tucking in his shirt. "Jennifer." Ignoring Ronon. "Nice to see you outside the infirmary. Have you been avoiding me?" He asks with a wicked grin.

Ronon instinctively steps forward, half covering her. "Let me guess. You're Ronon Dex, the alien." Ruiz says smugly. Ronon doesn't answer but keeps glaring at Ruiz. "Well, they did say you weren't a talker." Then switching his attention to Jennifer "Maybe you should teach the guy a little English."

"Ronon only speaks to people he deems worthy. What do you want, Ramon?" An annoyed Jennifer asks.

Surprised by her answer but chooses to ignore it since Ronon's right there. "Just to talk. I thought I'd catch up. It's been a long time."

"Not long enough." Jennifer mutters.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Ruiz asks, taking a step closer.

Ronon moves to completely cover her. "She doesn't want to talk to you." And with that, he turns around, grabbing Jennifer by the waist. When she activates her door they both move inside. Leaving Ruiz to wonder what Ronon is to Jennifer.

As soon as they both get inside and the door slides shut behind them, Jennifer quickly turns around to say "Stay. Please. I just need to change, won't take too long and then we can head to your room for you to change. That way it saves you time from coming to get me after you're done."

Ronon smiles at the fact that she knows that he's going to come by and pick her up before heading to Sheppard's room. "Sure." She nods and turns to grab her stuff to change in her bathroom. Ronon naughtily asks "Need help changing?"

Jennifer almost trips over herself. "Um no, thanks." She says in a squeaky voice.

Ronon falls back on a chaise. Fingering the tassels on her throw. Remembering the conversation he had with her back in his quarters.

**Flashback to the day she told him:**

Jennifer's pacing around his room. Trying to figure out what to say. Ronon then takes a hold of her hand and pulls her gently down beside him to sit on his bed. Thankfully, she relaxes. She takes a deep breath and starts to say something but then something causes her to stop. She's looking around his room. She just realized that she's been here. He nudges her and asks her to continue telling him what she's about to say. Fortunately, her mind focuses onto the reason why she's really there.

"Right, right." Jennifer says. Wringing her hands, then wiping them on her pants "This happened a year before I move here to Atlantis." Hesitating, she turns to her side and bends her leg to rest it on the bed, looking at Ronon. "You have to promise that you won't judge me… ever." He looks at her questioningly. "Please, I don't think I can handle you hating me or thinking the worst of me." Looking into his eyes, she finds her answer. "Okay, thank you. Here goes."

"Like I said, this happened a year before I left for Atlantis. I was new at the SGC. I was working mostly in the labs. Didn't have many friends… like always. Samantha and I only spoke once before. Anyway, I was in the mess hall with the SGC CMO, Dr. Lam. I liked her. Probably coz I felt like we were the same. She was also really young when she became CMO, and I was the youngest doctor at the SGC." Jennifer said thoughtfully.

She then shakes her head "Anyway, like I said, we were both in the mess. And then in walks this group of marines. All rowdy and stuff. Ramon Ruiz was one of them."

"Dr. Lam was paged to head back to the infirmary. So I was left there in the mess to finish my meal. Ramon decided to invite himself to sit at my table. We chatted for a bit. And of course I was flattered. I knew about him. I had been at the SGC a few days, but already I was hearing Ruiz this, Ruiz that. Apparently he had all the girls falling for him. And what made him even more special was that he was engaged. So it was a challenge to the women of the SGC."

Ronon looks at her, not understanding her words. She explains then "Some women find it a challenge when a guy is unattainable." The creases on Ronon's forehead deepen. "Okay, um, in sparring, would you rather fight with McKay or Sheppard?" Ronon's expression finally turns to understanding. "So it's the same way with women. The harder the, challenge the sweeter the reward. For some bizarre and unknown reason I caught his eye."

"_I know exactly why he caught your eye. It's the same reason why you catch almost every guy's eye around here. Coz you're beautiful. But that's not why I care about you." _Ronon thinks to himself.

"So from then on, he would find ways to see me. He would always make sure to take his breaks with me whenever he wasn't off-world. But then after two weeks I felt more uncomfortable with the situation. He was getting more flirtatious and touchy. And I knew he had a girlfriend." Wrinkling her nose. "Fiancé I mean. She was supposedly a senator's daughter. So I told him that we should stop. But he wouldn't take no for an answer."

Ronon frowns at this, growling a bit. "It's not what you think, he never forced me. Really, It just happened. One minute I was telling him that I thought that we should stop hanging out, the next we were making out, and then we were…"

"Stop." Ronon growls. "I don't want to hear it. "Just stop." Breathing heavily, he says "Skip it."

Surprised at his outburst, she stutters "Th-the next day he completely ignored me. And then kept ignoring me. A week later, I overheard some girls in the locker room while I was showering. Ramon was spreading rumors about me. Saying that I was all over him and that I was the one chasing after him. He kept telling people at the base how I kept calling him and demanding to break-up with his fiancé." Pausing to try to remember some of the other stuff that he said. "That I kept trying to find ways to see him."

Tears streaming down her face, Jennifer furiously wipes at her cheeks. "The only saving grace about the whole thing is that there were quite a few people who knew that he was the one all over me, especially the people who were there the day he invited himself to my table. And he never told anyone that we..."Trying to search for the right words "…um, did it." Ronon cringes at this. "I think he was scared that it would go back to his fiancé and she would leave him." She looks away and stares at the door.

Ronon knew exactly why Ruiz spread those Rumors. "He was trying to save face. I've been there. Melena's parents were wealthy and didn't want Melena and I to be together. The only difference between Melena and Ruiz was that Melena chose to be with me. Unlike Ruiz, who would rather stay with his rich and influential fiancé than a young doctor." Holding her chin and turning it to face him. He continues to say "I thought awhile ago he wanted you only for your body. But from the story you just told me, it seems like he liked you enough to risk being with you. But I think he chickened out the last minute and took the easy way out, which was to make you look like you're the one after him." Ronon explains to Jennifer.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it. You've got the upper hand. You've been here longer than he has and you're respected and you hold a higher position than he does." To lighten the mood, Ronon says "Besides, you've got all the needles in this city at your disposal." Nudging her shoulder in comfort. "And you've got me." Jennifer smiles at that and sighs.

**Back to Present:**

Jennifer walks back into the room, all fresh and dressed in yoga pants and a black tank top and a grey sweatshirt. Ronon looks up and says "You know we haven't finished training yet." Remembering that that was the exact way she looked when he trained her the one and only time. He gets up to walk with her back to his room.

"That's right, I think I need to brush up on kicks and stuff." Jennifer says with a smile as she looks up at him.

"Kicks and stuff?" He laughs.

When they get to his room, Jennifer takes a seat on his bed, waiting for him while he gets comfortable. When he's done, she decides that she actually likes him better in his own clothes despite the fact that he looks totally hot in jeans, coat and a white crisp shirt. But linen and leather look so much better on him. They head to Sheppard's room side by side talking about what kind of movie they think John's got in line for them.

As they get to John's room they see McKay and Sheppard fighting over what to watch. Ronon takes a seat on the floor, against the bed, Teyla's sitting at the foot of the bed shaking her head. Jennifer joins the two arguing men, hoping to help them decide.

Ronon reaches out to Teyla and whispers "Hey, do you know what's going on with Jennifer?"

"She hasn't told you yet, I assume?" Teyla says in a low voice, leaning down towards Ronon.

"Does it have something to do with that Ruiz guy?" Ronon asks with a growl.

"Yes. Apparently he was able to track her down at the infirmary. Luckily, Marie was able to provide some interference." Teyla replies.

With a grin, Ronon says "Remind me to thank Marie again. So what else happened?"

"Just that he was at the infirmary. Annoying all the doctors because he wouldn't leave Jennifer alone. He kept asking her to take a break with him. And that he almost grabbed her arm at one point." Before Ronon could say anything, holding a hand up she says "I said almost. That's when Marie pulled Jennifer away from him, giving him no choice but to leave."

"When I get my hands on him…"

"Evan found out about it and after that incident, he kept scheduling Ruiz on off-world missions when she was on shift. And then when he was due back, she was off duty or asleep. Do not worry Ronon." Teyla assures him.

"I'm not. Jennifer can take care of herself. But I don't want her getting pissed off coz that means that she'd be acting weird a lot." Ronon says.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do, Ronon." Teyla remarks, moving over on the bed to give Jennifer some room to sit, thus cutting off Ronon's reply.

Rodney takes a seat on an armchair by the bed, while Sheppard sits beside Ronon on the floor leaning on the bed behind him. Jennifer's playing with one of Ronon's dreads that lay on the bed near her feet. And Teyla smiles at the unconscious playful action.

And they begin their evening watching 'Alien', the movie Jennifer picked out.

TBC.

_Note: So that's Jennifer and Ramon's story. Basically, Ramon really liked Jennifer, but he chose to stay with his fiancé because she was a senator's daughter and would be able to take him higher up on the ladder. But as mentioned in Chapter 15, his fiancé had broken up with him. And now that that's happened he's trying to make amends with Jennifer._


	18. Interruption

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

_Note: Short response to Nika Dixon: Ramon Ruiz is your typical arrogant male. Cocky and Self-absorbed. I'm not saying all men are bastards, just some. Remember Mr. __Willoughby, the character Marianne was in love with in Jane Austens's 'Sense and Sensibility'. I didn't really model Ramon Ruiz after him. In fact I modeled him after someone I personally know. But like Mr. Willoughby, he genuinely liked Keller, but being the power & money hungry ass (excuse my French) that he is, he chose to stay with his fiancé. But when his fiancé left him, and he found out about Jennifer being the CMO of Atlantis he figured that he could probably seduce her again. No backbone, no honor and no respect for women. Therefore, he's a jackass. I say that about sums it up._

_Tag to Mortal Coil…_

"Dr. Keller, I'm assuming that Col. Sheppard and his team are clear. No nanites present in their bodies." Samantha asks Jennifer in her office.

"Yes. I did a scan on each and every one of them. Even on Maj. Jordan's team. No nanites present. They're all clear." Jennifer confirms. "Col. Sheppard even watched everyone's scan and insisted on seeing his after he was done just to make sure. Apparently, the duplicate 'me' kept him from seeing his scan and didn't do a blood test."

"According to Col. Sheppard, your duplicate was sort of in charge but eventually helped their duplicates escape. And even helped out by giving them a core system that can track every Aurora Ship being built by the replicators. At least we have an advantage now… at least for a while." Samantha says as she leans back onto her chair.

"Colonel, weren't you in a mission once where you were duplicated, too?" Jennifer asks her cautiously, not sure if the she should be bringing t up.

"Yes, not a very great experience. Because we were actually asleep, in a matter of speaking. And not just that one time, there was that replicator duplicate that Fifth created." Samantha said, shaking her head. "Now _she_ was psycho."

Jennifer just smiles at that. Not knowing how to respond. "Well, I'm off. I think I'm gonna go grab a late dinner. Wanna join me, Colonel?"

"Absolutely. I think I feel like having a roast beef sandwich."

--

"Jennifer!" Ramon Ruiz calls out as he sees the doctor and the Colonel walk down the hallway leading to the mess.

Jennifer quickens her step, pretending not to hear him. Samantha notices this and walks faster to keep up with her. "Problems, Jennifer?" Samantha asks in a whisper.

"Kinda. Been trying to avoid this guy for some time now." Jennifer says hastily. Samantha looks over her shoulder subtly.

"Ruiz? Didn't he just get transferred here from the SGC? He's already dogging your steps?" An amused Samantha asks.

"I'm glad you never listen to gossip, Samantha." Jennifer says with a sigh, and sees a confused look on Samantha's face. "I don't know if you remember, but I did work at the SGC for about a month."

"I do remember that. You were hardly ever out of your lab back then. How come you didn't stay too long? Dr. Lam said that you were one of the best doctors. And you were... are." Samantha said.

"Gossip. I put in a transfer after all the gossip." Proceeding to tell Samantha what had happened to her, but not in detail.

Samantha understood her dilemma. "I wouldn't worry so much about it, Jennifer. Besides, you've got the advantage now. I'm not saying that you should exert your power over him, but any misappropriate behavior from him can easily be dealt with."

"That's what Ronon said when I told him." Jennifer tells her. Behind them, Ruiz is still calling out her name. Lorne steps up to him, creating a diversion.

"He's right and with Ronon around…" Samantha grins, and then seeing Jennifer blush furiously, quickly says "And the others, like Maj. Lorne for example," throwing her thumb over her shoulder in gesture to point him out. "he won't be able to bother you… much. Sooner or later he'll know his place."

"Thanks, Sam. I still don't understand why he's trying to talk to me. I mean he's the one who started spreading rumors about me." Jennifer says as she takes a tray from the buffet table. "I know that his fiancé called off the engagement, but it's not like there aren't other women around here." Grabbing a bowl and scooping some fruit salad onto it, she sees Ronon and the rest of the team seating by the balcony. He waves at her, gesturing for her to sit with them. She smiles and waves back. Turning to look at Samantha, Jennifer grins and says "When Ronon, John and Rodney came back from earth, we decided to watch a movie. Ronon was walking me back to my quarters when we bumped into Ruiz. He was all disheveled and trying to tuck in his shirt, it was obvious what he was just doing in one of the other nearby quarters. So I don't get it. I don't know why he needs to talk to me when he's got a lot of the women here falling for him."

Not missing the fact that Jennifer mentioned Ronon walking her to her quarters, Samantha smiles at another hint that there is something deeper going on between the doctor and their resident warrior. "Maybe to apologize. Maybe he wants to apologize for what he did to you." Samantha suggested.

"Nope. I don't think so. He's being flirtatious, not apologetic." Jennifer says as she stops at the end of the table waiting for Samantha to finish picking out her food. "And it seems like he doesn't acknowledge what he did to me." Shrugging and moving towards the table that Sheppard and his team are occupying.

Upon reaching their table, John grabs two more chairs for them to sit on. Making way for them to squeeze in.

"So, what are we talking about?" Samantha asks before she takes a bite off of her roast beef sandwich.

"Well we've been discussing how McKay absolutely fell in love with himself." John says teasingly.

"I did not!" McKay denies. "I just thought that it was pretty awesome that I could talk to someone with the same IQ. That I could actually talk about stuff without having to explain myself. Even Zalenka can't comprehend half of what I say. But being with the other me... wow. It was like he could finish all my sentences. And of course, that's not unusual. He is 'me'."

"Yeah, well, you were the only one who seemed to get along with your duplicate." Ronon says as he's leaning back on his chair, with the two front legs 4 inches above the floor.

"Actually, Ronon, you were the only one hostile towards the other you." Sheppard puts in. "I didn't care much."

"So were they exactly like you?" Jennifer asks, taking a spoonful of soup in her mouth, looking at Teyla and Ronon who are sitting in front of her. "Was there at least a little bit of difference?"

"They were exactly like us." Teyla says.

"The uniforms were different." Sheppard adds. "But everything was the same."

"Yeah even the same hairstyle." Rodney says, wrinkling his nose when as he looks at Johns head.

"What?!" John says annoyingly as he runs a hand through his hair.

Just then, Ruiz appears at their table. "Col. Carter, Col. Sheppard." He says in greeting. Then nodding at everyone present at the table, his gaze lingering on Ronon before he looks at Jennifer. "Dr. Keller, Jennifer, I was wondering if I could have a private word with you."

Before she could say anything else, Ronon gruffly says "Can't you see she's eating?"

"It's okay, Ronon." Turning to look at Ramon. "If it is medically-related, Lieutenant, I suggest you save it for the infirmary. Or you could head there right now, Dr. Biro is on shift."

"It's more of a personal matter, Jennifer." Ramon says uneasily.

"I think that anything you'd like to say to me, you can say in front of my friends." Gesturing around the table.

Nodding, Ramon then says to her. "Okay then, I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me tomorrow evening."

Without hesitation Jennifer firmly says "No." And to save him from further embarrassment, Jennifer gets up to leave and excuses herself. Before glancing at Ronon to silently plead with him to follow her, he's already out of his chair and grabbing her tray to set aside for her. They walk out of the mess side by side, while the people left seated at the table are trying their best to hide their grins. Ruiz is left standing, staring at them, stupefied.

From across the mess hall, a pair of blue eyes witness the whole interaction.

TBC.

_Note: We all obviously know to whom those 'blue eyes' belong to. We haven't seen the last of this person. Unfortunately, I won't be tackling The Ramon Ruiz ass-kicking just yet. I do have an idea on how to go about this. But for now, I will be concentrating on other issues in upcoming episodes. Don't worry, his ass will eventually get kicked… but most likely after the Quarantine episode… to give Jennifer and Ronon's relationship more time to be cemented (at least in my own little 'fantasy Atlantis' world). And just to pique your interest, it's not just Ramon's ass that's gonna get kicked._

_Sorry it's a bit short, but what's so hard about this is that this episode is part one of three in SGA. There isn't a lot to go by on this episode since most of it was about the replicator clones. Most likely the next two episodes will be short, too._


	19. Baby Talk

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

_Tag to Be All My Sins Remembered…_

Walking in the infirmary hand in hand, Ronon and Teyla greet Jennifer. Jennifer's not surprised at the intimacy. In fact realization hits her, Teyla has already told him about the baby. Smiling at them she gestures Teyla to sit on one of the beds. Ronon helps her up then moves aside for Jennifer to examine Teyla.

"She got stunned." Ronon says.

"This is why I told you to tell them sooner." Jennifer scolds.

"I know. And like I told John, I am capable of taking care of myself." Teyla says.

"We all know that. But we don't know how a stun can affect your baby. You really have to be careful. I can relieve you from active duty, you know." Jennifer states, as she finishes her check-up.

"Don't bother." Teyla says as she gets off the bed "John has already done so." Leaving in a huff. Jennifer just stares after her. Feeling bad for the pregnant Athosian.

"She'll be fine. She's just upset. She feels helpless." Ronon assures her. "Wanna go grab a bite to eat?"

"Need to finish up here for a while. Maybe an hour?" Jennifer asks, still concerned about Teyla.

"Yeah, think I need to get cleaned up." Ronon says "I'll pick you up in an hour then."

--

An hour later, Ronon shows up in the infirmary to get Jennifer. "Doc, you ready?" Leaning against the doorway.

Jennifer turns around to look at Ronon. A smile on her face. "Just about." She closes her laptop and gets up from her stool. "I was thinking that we should stop by Teyla's room to invite her. I'm sure she's a bit hungry, too.

Ronon agrees and walks towards the living quarters to pick Teyla up. As they near Teyla's room, they find her just about to leave.

"Teyla, we were just about to ask you if you wanted to have dinner with us." Jennifer asks, hoping that Teyla's earlier frustration has subsided.

"I was going to head to the gym, but I am famished. I do not know why, though." Teyla says with a smile.

"That's coz you're eating for two now. Come on, I hear it is pasta night." Jennifer says as she turns around.

Teyla joins them both, and Jennifer moves to the left to make room for her between herself and Ronon, heading for the mess hall.

--

As they take their seats at a table out on the balcony they talk about the previous mission. Ronon's still obviously pissed off at what happened.

"Like John said, Ronon, you should be flattered." Teyla said, laughing.

"Flattered? Why?" Jennifer asks as she looks from Teyla, who's sitting beside her and then to Ronon who's across from her.

"The wraith had to stun him several times before he passed out." Teyla says as she's pops a grape in her mouth.

"Ahhh. Yeah, you _should_ be flattered." Jennifer agrees. Ronon just grunts in annoyance.

"So names. What do you plan on naming your baby?" Jennifer asks, smiling as she turns back to look at Teyla.

"I am not sure yet. I want it to mean something." Teyla answers.

"Ronon. I told you Ronon would b a good name." Ronon says with a grin.

"If I name my child after you, and the others find out, they're going to fight for the right to have it named after them, too." Teyla says.

"I'm your best friend. Actually, I'm more like you're brother, so I think it would be appropriate." Ronon says matter-of-factly. Jennifer just grins at the exchange.

"I will think about it." Teyla says

"_Ronon, we need you here at the briefing room."_ Sheppard says over the comm.

"Sure. I'll be right there." Ronon says, as he gets up to leave.

"_Dr. Keller, we need you here, as well."_ Samantha says.

Jennifer flushes slightly at the Colonel's correct assumption that she's with Ronon. Getting up to leave, she looks at Teyla and lays a comforting hand on her shoulder. Knowing that Teyla badly wants to be included in the mission.

"I'll be fine, Jennifer." Teyla reassures her.

--

In the briefing room, Col. Caldwell and Col. Ellis, John, Samantha, Todd the Wraith, Rodney and Larrin are already present. Jennifer and Ronon walk though the briefing room doors. Jennifer immediately spots the beautiful woman to her right. _"My guess is this is Larrin."_ She notices that Larrin is sizing Ronon up. Taking a deep breath, Jennifer instinctively moves closer to Ronon.

Ronon, unconsciously, lays his hand on the small of her back, unseen by everyone except for Larrin. Her eyebrow rises up. _"Possessive."_ She thinks to herself, smiling and shaking her head. From across the room, Sheppard's watching her, confused as to why she's staring at Ronon and Jennifer.

"Ronon, you will be escorting Rodney, so round up a team of marines that will back you up. Be ready in an hour." Sheppard orders Ronon. He then nods, grabs Rodney by the scruff of his neck and turns to run out of the room, but not before he lightly squeezes Jennifer's arm. An action not going unnoticed by everyone in the room.

Samantha lifts her eyebrows in amusement, then says "Dr. Keller, grab your medical team, we need you on board the Daedalus just in case there are casualties, and to scan Ronon and his team for nanites as soon as they're beamed back up to the ship."

"Yes, colonel." Jennifer obeys.

--

On the Daedalus, Jennifer looks at Ronon's scans. Finding nothing she turns to him smiling "You're clean. No nanites. So you're free to go."

"Cool." Ronon says, using Sheppard's favorite expression. Swinging his legs to the side of the bed.

"So you think it'll work?" Jennifer asks Ronon as she settles herself against the other bed, facing him.

"Rodney seems to think so." Ronon says as he stares at her. He's trying to imagine: _"What would she say if I grab her by the waist and set her on the bed with me in between her thighs? What would her reaction be if I pull her towards me to sit at the edge of the bed and kiss her passionately?"_ Shaking his heads at his thought, he instead says "I dunno. I hope so, if not, then this will be all for nothing."

"I feel bad for Rodney, though." Jennifer says absently, oblivious to the way Ronon is staring at her hungrily.

"Why?" Ronon simply asks.

"Radek told me earlier that the replicator that Rodney created, Fran… well it seems like Rodney kinda fell for it, or her… it, her." Jennifer says, hiding her smile.

Ronon laughs heartily at this. "Sounds like Rodney."

"Kinda reminds me of the movie 'Bicentennial Man'." Jennifer say, looking at a confused Ronon. "You've never seen it. It's really good. I always liked that movie." She then proceeds to tell him about the movie as they walk down the hallway.

Back on Larrin's Ship, Sheppard is walking down the hall with her. "So, do you mind if I ask why you were so interested in Ronon and Dr. Keller?" He asks Larrin.

"Jealous, Sheppard?" Larrin says teasingly.

"No, just curious." John quickly says, pretending not to care.

"Ronon." She sighs seductively, giving Sheppard a sidelong glance, gauging his reaction. "Now that is one big hunk of a man.

"Ronon and Jennifer are already... well you can say they're involved. I suggest you back off, I mean, I know you don't live on Atlantis or anything but, just in case you stop by…" John says, his words trailing off."

"Relax, Sheppard, he isn't my type, although, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious…" Larrin says as she teases John "Anyway, it's obvious the man is whipped. I dunno why, I mean she's a bit tiny for him, I can't begin to imagine how she could take…"

Making a choking sound, John interrupts her "You know, that's really between the two of them."

"Well I should think so." Giving him a naughty smile. John's eyes widen at the meaning of her words.

--

Back on Atlantis, Jennifer and Ronon are sitting together out on 'their' balcony. Ronon unexpectedly asks her "What do you think about kids?"

"Huh?" Jennifer turns to look at him, a confused look on her face.

"Kids. Do you like 'em?" He asks her again.

"Yes, absolutely." She says with a smile. "I love kids. I used to babysit my neighbor's kids back when I was in high school. Didn't even ask them to pay me."

Ronon's staring at her. Wondering. _"I wonder what she would look like, pregnant. I wonder what her kids would look like. Probably beautiful like her. And smart, too."_

"What about you?" She asks him in turn, looking at him as she sets her cheeks against her the knee that she's hugging.

Ronon thinks for a bit. "I dunno. I mean I've never been around kids much. Don't hate them, but never really made a point to hang around them." Shrugging as he says this. "But with Teyla having a baby and all, it's kinda exciting knowing that there's going to be one around the city."

"_God, just listening to him talk about babies is… geez what the hell am I thinking?! I wonder what it would feel like to have his ba… what the f…?! Argh."_ Burying her face in her hands. Blushing from her head to her toes from her silly thoughts.

"What's wrong?" Ronon asks as he notices her flushed neck.

"Huh. Um nothing. Really." Jennifer quickly says, still not looking at him. "I feel the same way. It would be nice to have a baby around here. It just gives Atlantis a more homey feel. Sooner or later this city is gonna be filled with kids." This time she turns her head to face him, but she's still not looking into his eyes. Instead her eyes have a dreamy look in them.

Ronon smiles at the way she looks. "Yeah that would be really cool. Having kids running around Atlantis." Then thinking _"If you had my child, he or she would be too perfect."_

TBC.

_Note: So like I said before, Not very long since the episodes are linked together. I find it hard to weave stories through the episodes. _


	20. The Messenger

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

_Tag to Spoils of War…_

"Hey Doc." John says as he walks through Jennifer's office.

"Hey, what can I do for you, Col. Sheppard?" Jennifer asks absently, not looking up from her computer screen.

"Not me. Teyla. Ronon said, you told her that it's good for the baby if she keeps working out." John says as he sets his palms down on her desk, trying to intimidate her, but failing.

Jennifer leans back on her chair to look up at him. "I did. Is there a problem?" She says in a challenging voice

"She's overdoing it." John tells her.

"I thought you relieved her from active duty, Colonel. From what I know, she's only been working out, not sparring." Jennifer says as she twirls her pen in her fingers. Trying to figure out Sheppard. _"If you made your move long ago, then that baby could be yours."_ Jennifer thinks to herself.

"I just think that…" John starts to say but is cut off when Teyla appears suddenly.

"Dr. Keller, I'm here for my routine check-up." Teyla says and then stops at the doorway when she sees John.

Jennifer gets up from her chair and walks around her desk. "Colonel, as you can see, she's also keeping up with her check-ups." Then leads Teyla to a bed. John just stands there, red faced.

--

"What was that all about?" Teyla asks the doctor, watching John as he leaves the infirmary.

"Oh, just men being… men." Jennifer says as she lets Teyla lay on the bed, then rubbing some petroleum jelly on her belly. "Apparently, Ronon told the Colonel that you've been 'overdoing' it, whatever that means."

"I've only been doing what you recommended. Athosian women have always been active even…" Teyla starts to say.

"…when pregnant." Jennifer finishes for her. "But you see, we 'earth people' are not born warriors. We are pampered from the very beginning. And a lot of people are still very traditional. John sees you as an equal, to him women are capable of leading. It's obvious that he feels that way, if not he wouldn't be comfortable with women being leaders here on Atlantis. I mean, there was Elizabeth and then now Samantha. And then there's you and I. But his upbringing, from what I know, well, let's just say John came from a very wealthy family. From my experience, most wealthy families are somewhat a bit-old fashioned. He respects you as a leader of your people, and he acknowledges that you are a good fighter, but, he still has that sense of responsibility towards you." Jennifer explains. Pointing at the screen, she's showing Teyla the baby's head. "There's your baby, do you want to know what your baby's sex is?"

"I already do. It's a boy." Teyla says confidently.

Jennifer smiles. She knows that a mother's intuition is almost always correct, not to mention Teyla's deep spirituality. "Look, have you not noticed how much he takes care of you, or how much he cares about you? Now that you're pregnant, he has to worry twice more. He did the right thing, you know." She says to Teyla as she helps her get down from the bed. Then turning back to doctor mode. "So everything is fine, and your baby's healthy. So like I said, just keep exercising and then come back here in a week."

"Thank you, Jennifer. I think I understand much better now." Teyla assures her as she leaves the infirmary.

Jennifer watches the beautiful Athosian leave, thinking _"He's also just feeling bad for himself that it's not his baby, that's why he can't even look at you."_

_--_

"So everything looks fine. Don't worry Teyla, your baby is going to be fine." Jennifer says, but adds "However, I really think you shouldn't be doing anymore mind-tapping, or whatever you call it."

"Thank you, Dr. Keller. And I have realized, while on the mission, that I do need to take it easy. That wraith queen could have done a lot of damage to my baby. If it wasn't for John, she could've killed him." Teyla replies, rubbing her belly gently.

"Good, then. So no more sparring, or running or whatever it is that you do." Jennifer says with a smile.

'None of that, not until he is born at least." Teyla says reassuringly.

--

"Hey doc." Ronon says as he catches up with her as she's heading towards Col. Carter's office.

"Hey Ronon. How's it going?" Jennifer asks.

"Was wondering how Teyla is. How she's doing." Ronon says.

"Didn't you just ask her when you were both at the lounge?" Jennifer asks him, a confused look on her face.

"I did?" Ronon says innocently.

"Yes, you did." Jennifer says, still puzzled.

"Uh… I did, didn't I?" Ronon says sheepishly.

Realization hits her. "Aha! Sheppard put you up to this, didn't he? He's too proud to ask me because he knows that I would eventually tell Teyla, and he doesn't think that she'd tell you if anything was wrong." Jennifer guesses. "Well you should tell John that he should ask her himself. Doctor-patient confidentiality, and all that." Jennifer says, her eyebrow raised, walking off, leaving Ronon scratching his head.

--

"Sorry buddy, she figured it out. She said to tell you that you should ask her yourself. Doctor-patient confidentiality, and all that" Ronon says, quoting Jennifer.

"What?!" Sheppard says as he pushes himself from the wall. "Geez, and I thought the doc liked you." Shaking his head he walks towards the direction of the mess hall to look for Teyla, knowing that she'd be hungry.

"She does!" Ronon yells, smirking. "I'm not sure about you, though."

TBC.

_Note: Sorry, this chapter isn't really Jennifer & Ronon centric. But it can't always be about them… who am I kidding?! It should be about them. But then again, like I said, hard to weave stories in between (especially if it involves three episodes all connected to each other). But hey, the good news is that the next chapter will be a tag to Quarantine. More possibilities. Maybe I'll throw you guys a curveball._


	21. Take Me to the Ballpark

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

_Note: Sorry it took so long. I was a bit discouraged after reading the spoilers. The whole McKay and Keller thing, them being close and all. But I've come to my senses. This is fanfiction. So I can do whatever I want. So, enjoy.:)_

_A Tag to Quarantine…_

Jennifer did not miss the looks on John and Teyla's faces. They know something happened. Risking a glance towards Ronon, she catches him staring at her intently. _"What is he thinking?"_

"So, um, doc, Ronon says you guys were locked up together at the infirmary. What'd you guys do?" Sheppard asks the blushing doctor.

"Do?" Jennifer repeats.

"Yeah, ya know, to pass the time." Sheppard clarifies. "Ronon's a bit fidgety; you should know that by now. The man can't stay put." Grinning, as he turns his head to look at Ronon. Ronon's trying really hard not to kick Sheppard under the table.

"I'm sure Ronon has told you about the oxygen tanks…" Jennifer begins.

"Yeah, he did. But was that all you guys did?" Sheppard pries some more. This time Ronon kicks him… hard. "Ow! What? I'm just curious. Teyla and I… I felt junior kick." John says defensively.

"Junior?" Jennifer asks, deliberately changing the subject.

"Yes, John has been calling him that since the lockdown." Teyla says, saving Jennifer from further embarrassment by continuing the baby talk.

"That's so typical." Jennifer says, glad that Teyla caught on.

"So you're really not gonna tell us what happened?" John asks again, not wanting to let it go.

A loud bang from behind John and Teyla interrupts their conversation. John and Teyla look around to see what the ruckus is about. Behind them there are two marines, one of which is Ruiz, quarreling. John starts to get up to stop them, but Lorne shows up in time to break up the fight. Jennifer is straining her neck to watch the fight.

Ronon squeezes Jennifer's thigh to get her attention. She turns to him and he nods towards the mess hall doors indicating that they should leave before anyone notices. Jennifer nods in agreement, they both get up quietly to avoid getting detected. Then walk quickly towards the doors. Ronon grabs Jennifer's hand; she looks down in surprise and smiles.

"Back to what we were just discussing…" John continues to say as he and Teyla turn back around to look at Jennifer and Ronon. "What the..? Where the hell did they go? Those sneaky…"

"They wouldn't have run away if you tried to be at least a little subtle." Teyla says as she scolds him "It was so obvious what you were trying to do. You were embarrassing Jennifer. Now we'll never know what happened when they were locked in the infirmary." Shaking her head. "Well at least _you_ won't ever know." Teyla says teasingly.

"You're saying that you won't tell me?" John asks, incredulous.

"No. I think if you really want to know, you should ask Ronon yourself, instead of hinting that you know something. But I'm sure I'll find out before you do." Teyla says confidently. "Jennifer opens up a lot faster than Ronon.

Lorne makes his way towards them, taking a seat across John. "I heard Ronon was locked in with Jennifer in the infirmary."

"Yup. And I bet you a weeks pay that something happened between them." John says, leaning forward.

"Be specific. Like did they make-out or go to second base?" Lorne Asks.

"Second base?" Teyla asks, her eyebrow rose, looking from Lorne to John.

"Uhhh…" Both men say at the same time.

"So, are you gonna take me up on that bet?" John asks, trying to change the subject.

"Sure am." Lorne says, eager to avoid Teyla's questioning eyes. "I bet that Ronon made his move."

"Well, anyone who's seen them together can say that. Be specific." John retorts.

Radek comes back from talking to Dr. Anderson to take his seat again at the end of the table. "What are we talking about?" He asks them.

"We're taking bets on what happened with Jennifer and Ronon." Lorne explains.

"I don't think that you should be doing this." Teyla complains.

"It's not like they don't know were talking about them. Besides it's just between us." John tells her, giving her his signature charming smile.

"In that case, I don't think they even kissed." Teyla says, finally succumbing to the bet.

"I say second base." Lorne says.

"Really? Nah… I dunno. I think maybe, just kissing. No hands." John says as he leans back onto his chair, crossing his arms behind his head. "What about you, Radek?"

"Definitely necking. Yes, necking." Radek answers.

"Do they still call it that? Necking? It sounds so… I dunno." Sheppard says, not finding the right words to say. "So anyway, a weeks pay, right?"

"So, gentlemen, what is second base?" Teyla asks again.

--

Ronon and Jennifer are walking quickly towards their balcony. As they go through the doors they both head for the railing, breathing heavily, Jennifer starts giggling. "Oh my god, I thought we'd never get out of there!" She says with relief.

Chuckling, Ronon turns to look at her. "Yeah, he wasn't too subtle about that." Jennifer just nods and looks ahead, watching the waves. Ronon is still watching her profile. Trying to figure out what to say.

"What now?" They both say, and then both start laughing. When their laughter dies down Ronon reaches for her and lowers his head. He stops inches before her lips, giving her time to pull away, and when she doesn't, he lowers his head even more, pulling her by the waist and touches her lips lightly with his, but only for a brief second. Looking into her eyes then back down to her lips, her tongue skims her lower lips, moistening it. Taking it as his cue, Ronon once again dips his head, hoping to catch her tongue between his lips. But she's too quick; he instead catches her lower lip. Settling for her lip, he sucks on it, running his own tongue against it.

Unconsciously, she places her hands against his chest, then moves one hand up to hook it over his neck. Standing on tip toe and angling her head. Jennifer sighs as he licks her bottom lip; she touches her tongue with his, and then retreats, Ronon's tongue darts inside her mouth. Deepening the kiss. Moans escape from both their mouths, bringing them back to reality. Pulling away from each other quickly. Jennifer turns around and takes a seat on the step, taking a deep breath.

Ronon turns to look at her as he leans against the railing. After a few minutes, which seemed like forever for both of them. They both say at the same time again "Wow." Jennifer's head snaps up to look at him, not knowing what the expression on his face would be.

"So what do we really do now?" Jennifer asks again.

"What do you want to do?" Ronon asks simply.

"I dunno. What do _you_ want to do?" Jennifer asks back.

"I asked you first." Ronon says with a grin.

"But…" Jennifer begins.

"But what? I did ask you first."

"Fine." She says. And then in her mind _"I want to kiss you some more."_

"_I want to kiss you a little bit more."_ Ronon thinks. Waiting patiently for her to say something.

Taking a deep breath, Jennifer looks up at him and answers "I think that we shouldn't do this."

Ronon's grin slowly fades. A frown forming.

"Oh, I mean, we shouldn't do this here. Out here. Someone might walk out. And that someone might be John Sheppard." Trying to lighten the mood. Which works because Ronon's back to smiling again.

Stepping forward, he holds out a hand towards Jennifer. When she places her hand on his he pulls her up. Hand in hand they walk towards Jennifer's quarters. Luckily the halls were almost deserted.

As the door slides shut behind them, Jennifer turns around to face him. "I think that maybe we should talk about this."

"No we don't." Ronon says, smiling sweetly at her as he advances.

Walking backwards, Jennifer starts fiddling with the zipper on her blouse. "We don't?" She asks, flustered.

"Nope."

"Why not?" Jennifer asks.

"What for? We both know how we feel about each other." He says confidently, still walking towards her.

"We do?" Jennifer asks, breathing heavily. Ronon just nods. "How _do_ we feel about each other?" She asks him.

"Well I know how I feel about you." He says matter-of-factly.

"And?" The back of Jennifer's knees hit the side of the bed and she falls down to sit on it. She waits for a reply. Ronon just smiles more sweetly, if that's even possible.

"You really want to talk about this don't you?" Ronon asks, deciding that she'd feel better if they let it all out.

"I do." She says, sighing in relief.

Ronon turns around to grab a chair and sets it right in front of her and takes a seat. Leaning towards her. "Now what?"

Jennifer shrugs. "I dunno. I don't know where to begin. Do _you _want to start?"

"Hey this was your idea." Ronon says, throwing his hands up in the air, leaning back, stretching his legs.

"Right." Jennifer says. "What happened in the infirmary… was that out of desperation?"

"No." Ronon replies, a crease on his forehead. "Why? Was that what it was for you?"

"No! No, no of course not." Jennifer denies repeatedly. "I just thought that… Ronon, I am so not your type."

"My type?" Ronon asks confused.

"Your type… um you know… didn't John ever explain this to you?"

"Nope."

"Great. Uh, type. It's the kind of woman or man you like. Get it?" Jennifer asks as she bites her lip,

"Yup. So what is my type?" Ronon asks her.

"Uh. Strong women. Women who can defend themselves. A girl who can take care of herself. Beautiful, articulate… not clumsy." Jennifer prattles on. "Women like Teyla or Colonel Carter." She proceeds to name some other women, ticking them off one by one with her fingers.

Ronon makes a face at the mention of Teyla's name. "First of all, Teyla is like a sister to me." Cutting her off. "Second, you can take care of yourself. Not only that, you can also take care of other people, too." Then leaning forward and scooting to the edge of the seat, he takes her hands in his, threads his fingers through hers and says "Third, you're not clumsy, fourth, it's cute when you can't find the words to say how you feel, and last, you are most definitely beautiful."

Jennifer's face brightens at this. "Really? You really think that?"

"Absolutely." He tells her as he moves even closer, lifting his one hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. Lightly rubbing her ear, then traces her jaw line until his hand is underneath her chin, his thumb lightly brushing her lips.

Jennifer's eyes drift down. She leans forward, offering her lips. Before he kisses her he tells her "We can take this slow if you want to. I don't want to rush you."

Jennifer nods. "Yeah, I think that would be best."

Still inches from her, his breath on her face, Ronon adds "How slow is slow?"

Jennifer just smiles "I think kissing can be considered slow. As long as it doesn't go to second base just yet."

"Cool." Ronon says before he kisses her softly. Then he stops suddenly. "What's second base?"

Jennifer laughs at this "You'll find out… eventually." Then pulls his head towards hers and kisses him again with more passion.

--

"What's second base?" Ronon asks out of the blue while Jennifer, he and his teammates are having breakfast the next day. Rodney chokes on his pancakes, Jennifer's eyes widen and John just smiles.

"Why do you ask?" John smiles mischievously, leaning forward. Rodney grabs his water to help swallow his food.

"Jennifer mentioned it last night." Ronon says innocently. Water comes out of Rodney's nose when Ronon says this. Earning a disgusted look from Teyla. Jennifer shifts uncomfortably, she's flushed from head to toe.

"I think that this discussion is better done without the ladies present?" John says, noticing Jennifer's blush.

"Why? You didn't have a problem talking about it yesterday with Evan and Radek after Jennifer and Ronon left." Teyla says.

"Yeah but…"

"I still am curious as to what it means, John." Teyla says, cutting him off.

"Yeah, what does it mean? McKay?" Ronon says, turning to Rodney, deciding that he'd be more straight to the point.

"Don't look at me." Rodney sputters.

"Ronon, buddy, I'll tell you later, okay?" John says as he looks at Jennifer with a secret smile.

"I better go. I need to be in the infirmary." Jennifer says, not wanting to endure one more knowing look from Sheppard.

"Okay, um…" Ronon looks back at his teammates. "Lunch later? I'll pick you up?" He asks her.

"Sure." Jennifer says as she grabs her tray and away.

"I still want to know…" Teyla begins to say.

"You know you should ask the doc. She might tell you. I'm not too comfortable telling you about this." John whispers to her. Teyla nods at this.

--

Ronon and Sheppard are in the gym, sparring, when Ronon asks Sheppard "So, you gonna tell me what second base is?"

Caught of guard, Sheppard misses a step and gets hit in the back by Ronon's stick. John arches his back from the impact, turns around and holds a hand up, while the other one is rubbing his lower back, "Ok, buddy, I think I've had enough."

"Come on, I'll walk you to the infirmary." Ronon says as he throws his bantos rods onto the floor.

"So, mind if I ask you what brought the 'second base' subject up?" John asks as they're walking down the hallway.

Ronon looks pensive then finally gives in. "Jennifer and I have gotten to the point of talking about 'us'. We both decided not to rush things. And to make things clear we decided that kissing is fine, but she said something like 'As long as we don't go to second base just yet'."

"Ahhh. Okay. Now I get it."

"So howcome Teyla asked about it, too?"

"Uhh…" Sheppard tries to think of something really fast but just ends up saying "She heard us discussing it. So now she won't let it go. Anyway…" He says as he tries to change the subject. "Second base, okay it's sort of in reference to baseball. First base is kissing. Second base is well, kissing and feeling the other person up."

"Feeling up?" Ronon repeats.

"You know, using hands." Sheppard tries to explain.

"Why? Don't you use hands when you're kissing?" Ronon asks, confused.

"Well, yeah, but, it's more like… breasts." Sheppard says, not knowing how to explain it further without sounding vulgar.

"Breasts? You mean touching them?"

"Yup, and more than that. Butts and…" Sheppard shifts uncomfortably. "You know what… I can't tell you this. You're just going to have to ask the doc about this. Especially about third base and home run."

"There are two more bases?" Ronon says, even more puzzled.

"Okay, I'll just tell you what it is in general. They're steps. From making out to… without sounding too cheesy, to making love." John tells him in a satisfied tone.

Ronon nods at this and just in time they're right in front of the Infirmary. Jennifer sees them and beckons them to come in.

"So who is it this time?" Jennifer asks, not missing the mischievous grin on Ronon's face.

"Just need to put some ice on my lower back. Probably some of that stinky Bengay." Sheppard says as he sits on one of the beds.

Jennifer lifts the back of his shirt up. There's a long red mark on Sheppard's lower back. "What? What are you smiling at?" She asks Ronon as she's checking Sheppard's back. Ronon just shakes his head, but his eyes are twinkling in amusement.

Jennifer walks over to the medicine cabinet to grab some ointment. Ronon's right behind her and whispers "So when do we get to second base, third base and homerun?"

TBC.

_Note: Okay, since the spoilers aren't very encouraging, I think I'm taking matters in my own hands and leading the story to where we all want it to go. To hell with McKeller… I like Rodney but, I definitely think Ronon deserves her more._


	22. Who Was Your John Sheppard?

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

_Note: I'm glad that you guys liked 'Take Me to the Ballpark'. I had four days to complete it. I guess I speak for all Ronon/Keller fans when I say that Quarantine is probably one of the best episodes. I thought that at the end of the episode, they really needed to address whatever it was between them. Not completely, but at least acknowledge it. Anyway, this tag is a lot easier and at the same time harder, too, since this episode did not have Ronon or Keller in it at all. Hope you like the turnout._

_A Tag to Harmony…_

It's been weeks since the lockdown. Ronon and Jennifer's "non-relationship", as John likes to call it, is slowly progressing. They're both trying to keep it under wraps to avoid gossip, although they don't really care if people start talking about them. They're both just not ready to show everyone how they feel about each other, they just want to savor it themselves for a little bit. There are only a select few who know about the two of them. John, Teyla and Rodney, and including Lorne, Radek and Marie since they've also known for sometime. As standard operating procedure, they had to inform Col. Carter about the "non-relationship", which, much to their surprise, Samantha already knew about. Jennifer's still shy around the Satedan, blushing and fidgeting when he's around. Ronon on the other hand is still finding excuses to visit her in the infirmary. Whenever they're both in Atlantis, and not off-world, they always make it a point to have their meals together. Whenever Jennifer forgets to eat, Ronon always strolls in her office and leaves a tray of food on her desk when she's busy with a patient. Jennifer has also stopped going to Teyla's training sessions, and instead trains with Ronon one-on-one. They shared chaste kisses at first, that slowly turned into passionate ones. Once a week they would both hang out with everyone else at Sheppard's room for movie night. Which is where they are now…

"So let me get this straight, she was in love with you," Jennifer says as she looks at John from across the room, "Then for some strange reason, she now loves you." Turning to Rodney.

"I can't really say she was in love." John Sheppard says. "More like hero worship."

"No…" Jennifer says shaking her head as she smiles really wide. "… It was love. Trust me, I was a 12 year old girl once." As she settles down on the floor beside Ronon against the bed.

Teyla is sitting on the couch with Rodney on the other end. Sheppard's preparing the DVD player, they're about to watch 'Napoleon Dynamite'. Turning around to face the doctor, Sheppard asks her. "What makes you say that?"

Everyone is staring at her now. Jennifer looks at Teyla for help, then remembers that Teyla isn't from earth and might not know what she's talking about. Her eyes sweep over everyone in the room and says "Well, it's obvious, she's in love with you. She's at that age."

"What age?" Rodney asks.

"She's in her pre-teens. She's already beginning to think like a teenager." She answers.

"And that would be…?" Teyla asks in turn.

"That they think they're all grown-up, they want to be independent. It's the time when they develop romantic feelings for another person." Jennifer explains.

"Oh and she did tell me she was in love with you." Rodney adds.

"When did that come up?" John asks, frowning, and plumping his pillows to lay down on his bed.

Rodney waves his hand to dismiss Sheppard's question. "So you've been through this stage?" Rodney asks.

"Well almost all girls go through this stage. Pre-teen girls usually develop feelings for boys her age." She answers.

"But John is a lot older than Harmony." Teyla states.

"Yes, true. But she's a princess. So she's been isolated from other children her age, and the fact that she grew up with her sisters, seeing them entertain people their age, not hers, has had an impact on her. So she attached herself to Sheppard." Jennifer explains. Then looks at John "She was attracted to you, your position as leader. And I'm pretty sure her sisters were somewhat attracted to you, too." And then adds "Now in Rodney's case, that was totally hero worship." Rodney smiles at that conclusion.

And with that said, the movie begins.

--

"So doc, who, was your John Sheppard?" Ronon asks as he walks her back to her quarters, smiling. Her hand is holding his, as he drapes his arm around her shoulders.

She looks up at him as she turns around to face him when they reach her door. "Nicky Van Buren." She smiles at the memory. "He was the golden-boy."

Ronon's cocks his eyebrow. She swipes her hand over the control access and the door opens. They both step through the door. Ronon sits on her bed, while she rummages through her closet for a pair of pajamas.

"He did everything from sports to academics. He was an editor in the school newspaper. Was at the top of the class, well at least before I was placed in his class. Like I said, I skipped some grades. He never held it against me. In fact, I think he found it refreshing that I could understand whatever he was saying without being too nerdy or geeky. We were friends." Then she stops, trying to remember a few more details. "But I fell in love with him even before then, I was only eleven when I had a crush on him. My teachers in grade school told my parents that I wasn't going to be challenged enough in Middle School. That I needed to skip a few grades. So we visited the high school to see if I would like it. And that's when I saw him. He was doing his oral report in class and I just fell for him. But my parents decided that I should at least try middle school." Jennifer shrugged. "Needless to say, I was bored. So after a year they transferred me. I was only thirteen when I was in my sophomore year. He was in most of my classes. We graduated at the same time. We went our separate ways. I think he's married now."

"So you liked him because you were both smart." Ronon says, afraid of her answer.

She disappears in her bathroom to change, and talks aloud "Nope. I liked him because he made me fit in, even just for a little bit. Fortunately, nobody was really mean to me back in high school, but then I was three years younger than all of them. While almost all the other girls had hourglass figures, I was still wearing a training bra." Ronon frowns in confusion, not knowing what a training bra is "Senior year was the worst. Nobody ever made fun of me. I think they kinda got used to me being around. Prom. I never went to my prom. Nobody asked me out. She says with a sigh when she walks out of the bathroom, looking fresh.

"So it wasn't because he smart or anything?"

She shakes her head no. "Him being smart didn't have anything to do with it." She sits down in the middle of her bed, tugging on his hand so that he could turn around to face her. He takes his boots off first, knowing that she's a neat freak, and then turns around, crossing his legs. She starts to play with the hem of his pant leg. "So who was _your_ John Sheppard?"

He chuckles. "Melena. She's the woman I told you about." Jennifer nods at this, holding his hand for comfort. "But I never noticed her, not until I was seventeen. She was my best friend's sister. But she said she'd been in love with me since I was thirteen."

"Did you ever marry her?" Jennifer asks carefully.

"I was about to." He says sadly. With that, Jennifer leans forward and hugs him. He pulls her gently against him, and hugs her back. She then shifts around and sits on his lap and strokes his head. "So is this second base?" Jennifer throws her head back and laughs.

--

It's almost midnight when Ronon walks back to his quarters hands in his pockets and a smirk on his face.

**Flashback to 2 hours earlier:**

"So is this second base?" He asks her, and she throws her head back and laughs. Looking at her exposed neck, he can't help but smooth his hand over it, which then causes Jennifer to stop laughing and trembles instead. He dips his head down to kiss the base of her throat. His tongue darts out to taste her skin. A sigh escapes her lips. Her hands stop stroking his head and instead pushes his head to her neck, encouraging him even more. Ronon's hands slide up and down her back, warming her. Jennifer turns her head, and kisses his forehead, moving closer, wanting to feel his chest against hers. He can tell what she wants, so he grabs her leg and swings it over his thigh so that she can straddle him. She moans. "Baby, are you okay with this?" He asks her in a strangled voice, as he looks into her eyes.

"Uhuh." Nodding just to make it clear. Her words caught in her throat once again. Rubbing his palms on her thighs, Jennifer wraps her legs around him, bringing him even closer to her. She can feel his hardness under her ass growing stiffer by the second. Jennifer watches her own hand stroke each dread lovingly and carefully, a small smile at the corner of her mouth

Ronon is entranced just by looking at her. "I can't seem to stop looking at you." He admits. Jennifer looks up at him, surprised by his admission. "What are you thinking about?" he asks her.

"That I can't believe you're actually here with me. Holding me like this." Ronon looks confused. "When I first came here, we weren't exactly friends." She explains, and Ronon smiles at the reminder. "You kept telling me to watch my step. You were always growling, and you had the tendency to suddenly change from being civil to rude."

"John said that it was a defense mechanism." He says. "That I didn't want to admit that I was attracted to you."

"When did you know?" Jennifer asks him.

"I think that I always knew. But I definitely know when it started." He said as he lifts his hand to tuck her hair behind her ear so he could kiss her cheek.

"When?"

"They day you arrived. In the gate room. You were looking around. I think Chuck even slapped your hand a couple of times, coz you almost activated something. Even saw Lorne kick him in the shin for slapping your hand away." Relaying the story when he first saw her.

"Wow, that's a long time." Jennifer says, smiling. "Remind me again why it took us this long?" She asks, with a smirk.

"I think it was coz you were being stubborn." Ronon teases.

Jennifer's eyes widen. "I was not!" She says with a high pitched voice. Giggling and slaps his shoulder. Ronon's smiling.

"Yeah, and you yelled at me, too." He adds, still smiling.

"I yelled at you coz you I didn't know what your deal was." She says, inching away from him. "You were always growling and leaving all of a sudden." She turns around quickly to grab a pillow, and hits him with it, laughing. She throws him off balance, and he falls back onto the bed. Giggling, Jennifer starts to get up from the bed to get away from him.

"Oh no you don't!" Ronon growls. He sits up again and grabs her by the hips, holding her steady on the bed while he crawls towards her then pulls her down beneath the length of him. Jennifer's face is flushed as she giggles. His eyes are twinkling as he's smiling naughtily down at her. His smile fades as he looks deeply into her eyes. His head dips down to taste her lips, swallowing her giggles.

The kiss was slow at first. Gentle and playful, then turns passionate when Ronon's tongue plunges in her mouth. Jennifer grabs the front of his shirt, then one hand travels to the back of his neck, deepening the kiss. Her leg slides up over his thigh, then his ass. Ronon grabs her thigh to keep it in place. Snaking his other arm beneath her, moving them both to the middle of the bed, still holding onto her thigh. Ronon touches his forehead with hers. Breathing heavily. He rubs her nose lightly with his in a gesture of affection. She smiles at him sweetly. His other hand moves up to sroke the side of her face. "You sure about this?" She nods and cups his jaw, rubbing his beard with her thumb. Ronon lowers his head and kisses the side of her neck. Kissing and sucking lightly, then licks her skin, making her sigh.

Working his way down to the valley between her breasts, Jennifer arches her back, pushing against his face. He turns his head slightly to kiss her covered breast, then moves to the other one to kiss it too. His hand trails down from her face, to her shoulders, down to her waist, and rests there, making slow hypnotic circles with his thumb. After a few more minutes, Ronon's hand inches down to the hem of her top, slowly lifting it away from her belly, scrunching it up below her breasts. He moves his head down to nuzzle her belly. Jennifer's writhing beneath him. Not knowing what to do, she lifts her other leg to wrap it around his hips. Ronon then grabs her thigh like he did with the other one and holds both of them in place. Kissing her flat tummy and dips his tongue in her bellybutton, causing Jennifer to gasp. Then trailing soft, damp kisses upwards and stops right below her breasts.

Ronon looks up at her one more time, to make sure she's okay with what he's doing. In response, Jennifer moves up a little bit, and leans on her left elbow, and lifts up her shirt even further with her right hand. Ronon helps her take her shirt off then pushes her down on the bed gently. He takes her hands and places them around his shoulder. Looking into her eyes, Ronon cups her chin, kisses one side of her jaw, then the other, Then kisses her softly. Jennifer's hands are on him, rubbing his arms up to his shoulders and then his neck and back down, repeating the movement slowly, making the hair on his arms stand. Ronon angles his head, their tongues dance around, while his hands move up from her waist to cup her breasts, eliciting a gasp from Jennifer. Kneading them slowly through her cotton bra, with his thumbs rubbing her nipples, hardening them. Jennifer arches her back again, pushing against his hands. Ronon squeezes her breasts harder, pushing them together as he kisses his way down in between them. He kisses the top of her breast, while his hand pinches the other nipple through the fabric. Jennifer's writhing underneath him. Grabbing the blanket beneath her. Moving to her other breast, Ronon traces the line above her bra with his tongue, while his hand moves underneath her to grab her ass and press her against his hardness. Jennifer can't take it anymore. "Ronon, I want to…" Jennifer breathes out "I want to touch you." She grabs onto his tunic and tugs on it, they both sit up so he can take it off. When Ronon has his shirt off, he tosses it over the side of the bed. Jennifer's breath hitches at the sight of him. She's seen him with his shirt off numerous times, but tonight is different. Tonight they're taking the next step.

Reaching up, Jennifer caresses his chest. She leans forward, and kisses his shoulder and moves down to flick his nipple with her tongue. This is his undoing. Groaning, Ronon, grabs her ass and sets her on his lap, encircling her tiny waist with his big hands, the tips of his fingers almost touching. Ronon puts her arms around his neck as he dips her backwards, making love to her neck and shoulders. Jennifer grinds her hips, feeling his throbbing heat stiffen against her through two layers of fabric, eliciting another groan from Ronon while she moans deep in her throat.

Ronon's hands reaches up to slide her bra straps down, and then stops. Staring at her breasts. Jennifer panics. "What's wrong, Ronon?" She asks him, cupping his face, willing him to look at her.

"I don't know how to take this off." He says as he tugs on her bra. Smiling, Jennifer slowly turns around, swinging her legs to the side, to show him what she's about to do. Taking a deep breath, Jennifer reaches around her with one hand and swiftly unhooks her bra with deft fingers, and throws her bra on teh floor. Ronon's eyebrow cocks up in admiration. Taking hold of the back of her neck he slowly skims his hand down her back. Then traces the lines that her bra left on her skin with his forefinger. Ronon sweeps her hair aside, kisses the back of her neck and licks the protruding bones, gliding his hands over her legs through her pajama pants, moving up, slowly stroking the side of her hips, moving higher until he caresses the side of her breasts. Her breath quickens, and her head falls back to rest on his shoulder, exposing her swan-like neck. His hands inch forward until his forefingers touch the undersides of her breasts and his thumbs rub her nipples, erecting them. Jennifer whimpers, and pushes her breasts against his hands, grabbing onto the fabric of his pants, curling her toes in pleasure. Ronon, kisses her exposed neck as he fondles her mounds. Jennifer turns her head to kiss him, her hand cups the side of his face to hold him against her lips. Ronon's hand travels down her flat belly as it makes its way down her thigh. Stroking her inner thigh, he can feel the heat emanating from her. Moving excruciatingly slow, Ronon's hand finds her soft hot mound. Rubbing her slowly through the thin layer of her pajamas. Jennifer is making soft mewling sounds. His finger is tracing her, dampening the fabric. Jennifer lifts her hips, and grabs his wrist, not wanting him to stop. He strokes her a little faster and harder. She throws her head back in both frustration and pleasure. Digging her nails on his thigh and pushes against his bulge. Ronon pulls her head to turn towards him, kissing her mouth fiercely but also gently as he rubs her to the point of ecstasy. As she climaxes she lets out a scream, she stiffens then relaxes.

Jennifer turns around to face him, but Ronon stops her. "Wait." He says in a strangled voice. olding her in place.

"What's wrong?" Jennifer asks innocently.

"Don't move yet. Let's just stay like this for a little bit." He says in a whisper, winding his arm around her waist.

Realizing why, Jennifer says "Oh God, Ronon… what about you?" Trying to turn again so she can straddle him.

"Slow, right?" Ronon says. "It's okay." Jennifer still looks skeptic and is still struggling to turn around. "Jennifer, Jen, it's okay really. Besides I don't think I'll be able to hold back if you touch me. Let's just rest for a while." He reassures her. Then he grabs her discarded shirt and pulls it over her head, then pulls her down on the bed to lie beside him, spooning her. His arm draped over her waist possessively. After a few minutes, they fall asleep.

He wakes up an hour later. Carefully, he gets up from the bed, not wanting to wake her. Putting on his shirt and shoes, Ronon walks to the door quietly. Before he steps out, not hearing her footsteps, Jennifer is right behind him, gripping his arm. Pulling him down for a goodnight kiss, she whispers in his ear. "That was second base." Grinning like little schoolboy, he gently shoves her inside and lets the door slide shut between them.

**Back to Present:**

Walking down the hall, Ronon runs into Cadman. "Hey, you're still here?" he asks her.

"Yeah. Major Lorne requested that I stay for a month. Anyway, it's good that I ran into you." Frowning then smiling. "Wait… did you just come from Jennifer's room?"

Ronon nods. "She's already asleep."

Smiling even wider "Good. Well, not really, I mean I wish she was awake right now."

"Why?"

"I need to tell you two something, something that you both should really know. But I guess if she's already asleep… I'll just tell her tomorrow." Laura says, confusing Ronon even more.

"What?"

"Come on buddy, we can grab a glass of milk, it helps me sleep." Laura says as she links her arm through his, pulling him along towards the mess hall.

TBC.

_Note: The next chapter might be an answer to some of your requests. _


	23. I See London, I See France

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

_Note: My John Sheppard was my brother's best friend. We grew up with him (So I've known him since I was five). I actually call him my Psuedo-love now because I'm in love with him still (been in love with him since the 6th grade, thirteen years!) but I know that it's only based on how I remember him from six years ago._

_Forgive me if I confused you with the skipping grades part. I never went to middle school myself. This is the third country I've moved to, I graduated from high school at the age of sixteen and I got my bachelor's degree at the age of twenty. So I'm not very familiar with the school system here. _

_A Tag to Outcast…_

**Present (A):**

"Sorry to hear about your dad, John." Jennifer says as she does her routine check-up of Sheppard.

"We weren't really close." John says, not wanting to talk about it.

"So, you guys got your asses kicked, huh?" Jennifer says as she tries to change the mood.

"Not as much as Ronon, though. He was thrown around." John replies, happy that she got the hint. "Have you seen the big guy since we got back?"

"Nope. Dr. Chan did his check-up about three hours ago while you were debriefing Col. Carter. I was on break when he came in." She answers as she takes her stethoscope from her ears. "You're fine. No broken ribs or whatsoever." She tells him.

"Well, I suggest you go look for him before he changes." Sheppard says suggestively as he wiggles his eyebrows. Hopping down from the infirmary bed.

"Why?"

"Oh nothing." John walks out of the infirmary with a big smile on his face. In the hallway he taps his comm. "Ronon, buddy, you hungry? Don't change, meet me at the mess hall in half an hour." Not bothering to suggest that he pick the doctor up since he knows that Ronon never forgets to take her to any of their meals.

**Flashback to One Week Before:**

Jennifer opens her door to find Ronon standing by her doorway in a a black shirt. "Hey Ronon! What's up?"

"I was gonna tell you that I'm going with Sheppard back to earth."

"How's he doing?" Jennifer asks him, moving to the side to let him in. He walks in, but not past her, that's when Jennifer notices that he's hiding something behind his back.

"He's acting like it's okay. But I think it's just that it hasn't really sunk in just yet." He says as he scratches his head, shifts from one foot to the other, while his other hand is still behind his back.

"Sweetie, what are you trying to hide?" Jennifer asks as she strains her head to look behind him.

Embarrassed, Ronon slowly shows her a bouquet of flowers. Seeing the surprised expression on her face he shoves them towards her.

Her eyes soften even more as she looks at them. "Oh my God, Ronon, I love them. Did you get these on the mainland?" Smelling the flowers.

"Yeah, I accompanied Dr. Brown on her last mission yesterday. She helped me pick 'em out. You know, the ones that are not poisonous and stuff. She's leaving on the Daedalus in two days." Ronon explains, relieved that she liked the flowers.

Jennifer grabs an empty peanut butter jar and disappears into her bathroom, emerges in less than a minute with the flowers in the jar, half full with water, and sets them on her nightstand. "Thank you." She says as she stands on tiptoe and hooks her right arm around his neck to pull him down for a promising kiss.

Ronon puts his arms around her waist and pulls her against him. Lifting her inches above the floor. She's nibbling on his lower lip and grazing his teeth with her tongue. Opening his mouth, his tongue darts out and touches her tongue with his. They both moan really low.

When they come up for air, Ronon strokes the side of her face. Jennifer turns her head to kiss his palm. Then looks at him. "When do you have to leave?"

"I have less than an hour." Ronon says as he dips his down to lick the skin between her neck and shoulder. Jennifer shudders and grabs his hair. His hands move lower to grab her ass, lifting her up as she wraps her legs around him, bringing herself in contact with the hard bulge in his pants. Ronon walks towards her bed, bending on one knee on the mattress as he slowly sets her on his back. Her legs still wrapped around his torso as she kisses him.

Ronon's hand cups her breast, while the other snakes around to the front of her pants, slowly unbuttoning and unzipping her pants. After accomplishing that, his hand dips inside to touch her through her cotton panties. She's already wet. Jennifer gasps. She lifts her hips and pushes against his hand. Ronon tears his mouth away to kiss her neck. Two of his fingers moving back and forth, while his thumb grazes the garter of her underwear.

Jennifer can't take it anymore, raking her nails down his belly, she tentatively cups him. Ronon groans really loud. Encouraged, she starts to rub him. Following his strokes against her vagina, Jennifer increases her speed and squeezes him at the same time. Now their both moaning loudly as their nearing their climax. Jennifer stiffens and gasps as Ronon lets a loud guttural groan and then relaxes, being careful not to crush her tiny body under his. They're both sweating and panting heavily as he reluctantly pulls away from her.

"When will you be back?" Jennifer finally asks him, breaking the silence.

"Hopefully, it won't take too long." Kissing her forehead, he says to her "See you when I get back." Then gets up to leave. He turns around to face her again when she sits up on her bed. Grabbing her hand, He kisses the inside, then moves towards the door.

Standing in the gateroom, preparing to leave for earth, Sheppard takes one look at Ronon's ruffled appearance. _"What the hell has he been doing? His shirt looks like he pulled it right out of the laundry basket."_

**Back to Present (B):**

Ronon's unpacking his backpack when Sheppard calls him over the comm. _"Ronon, buddy, you hungry? Don't change, meet me at the mess hall in half an hour."_ Deciding that he has enough time to unpack his things, he notices that his room is all tided up. Ronon takes out two new knives called Kukris he acquired from earth, one with a blade that's 1l inches long with a leather scabbard and another with a 4 inch long blade. Setting them on a table. Digging through the bag he pulls out a rectangular box and his gun. With twenty minutes left he leaves his room carrying some of the items he brought from earth and change of clothes, and heads down to Jennifer's room.

Since McKay altered both their door sensors to match both their DNA, Ronon unlocks her door and drops off his things by her bed. Before walking out her door Ronon spots a beautiful bouquet of red flowers in the trash.

**Flashback to Three Days Before:**

"Hey Jennifer, where are you off to?" Laura asks her in the hallway, as she notices a red-faced Jennifer stomping down the hallway in the living quarters, clutching a Ziploc bag with something red inside.

Jennifer whirls around, her eyes on fire. "Back to my room." That's when Laura sees her clutching a very recognizable linen shirt on her other hand.

"What is that?" Cadman asks as she grabs the Ziploc bag and opens it up, pulling out a pair of red lace crotchless panties. "Somehow I can't imagine you wearing this." Cadman says as she wrinkles her nose, shoving the underwear back in the bag.

"That's coz they're not mine." Jennifer growls out. "And this! See this?!" Her voice raising as she waves Ronon's shirt. People are walking quickly but still gawking and at the pair standing in the middle of the corridor. "Smell it." Shoving the garment towards Laura.

Laura takes a whiff. "Smells like perfume. So?"

"I don't wear perfume! I'm allergic to strong smells. And this, look. Lipstick." Peeling the neckline of the shirt to show a red lipstick mark.

"Very red lipstick. You wear lip gloss."

"Exactly!"

"So you found these… where?" Laura asks her cautiously.

"These," Jennifer says as she shakes the bag "I found under Ronon's pillow. "And I found the shirt in his hamper."

"What were you doing in Ronon's quarters?"

"For weeks now, I've been helping Ronon fix his room up. And teaching him how to do laundry. But since he's on Earth right now I figured I'd tidy his place up. He left at the last minute so I knew that he probably turned his room upside down." Taking a deep breath she continues. "So I found these."

"Do you know who they're from?" Laura asks in low voice.

"No. But when I find out…" Jennifer says, letting her words trail off. As she strides back to his quarters to search some more.

**Back to Present:**

Ronon walks over to the trash can and picks up the little card sticking out of the bundle of red flowers.

_Jenny, _

_If you need a shoulder to cry on, I'm here for you. _

_Love Always, _

_Ramon_

Turning around to look at her side table, he sees a re-used jar of almost-wilted hand-picked flowers, with water that's not too clear, and fallen petals on the table, and floor. Ronon smiles at this.

--

As Jennifer is shutting down her computer a shadow looms over her. Knowing exactly who it is without turning around, she says "How was your trip, Ronon?"

"Same as always. Long and boring." He answers, as he helps her down from her stool, turning her in his arms so he can hug her. Tipping her head back to kiss her fully on her lips.

Jennifer's arms instantly go around his neck, pulling herself closer to him, kissing him back as her eyes slowly drift down. Opening her mouth to allow Ronon's tongue access. She moans softly and breathes in his manly scent. When the kiss ends, she opens her eyes and finds him staring intently at her. "Hi." She whispers.

"Hey." He responds.

A crease forms on Jennifer's forehead, as her hands trail down to his chest, not feeling leather or linen, Jennifer turns her gaze from his face down to his chest. "Ah, so this is why John said to see you before you change." She says with a smile.

"Yeah, he did tell me not to change before I came to get you. Actually, I'm kinda getting used to it. But it's still not as comfortable as my own clothes."

"I think you look handsome no matter what you wear," Jennifer tells him. "or not wear." She adds under her breath, as she turns around to take off her lab coat.

"Really?" Ronon says, an amused smile on his face.

"You heard that?" She asks sheepishly, her face beet red. "Oh, hell, I can say whatever I want." She says as she lifts her eyebrow and smiles, then stands on tiptoe to kiss his cheek really quick. Tugging on his hand so they can grab dinner.

As they're walking down the hallway hand in hand, Ronon breaks the silence. "Teyla said you kicked ass while we were gone."

Jennifer smiles proudly. "I did!" She exclaims.

**Flashback to two weeks before:**

"Come on buddy, we can grab a glass of milk, it helps me sleep." Laura says as she links her arm through his, pulling him along towards the mess hall.

Cadman and Ronon enter the kitchen and head straight for the warming drawers. Grabbing sandwiches, then chips from the cupboard and two glasses of milk. Laura motions towards the balcony doors. As they take their seats she says "Don't want other people to hear what I have to say. I'd rather have Jennifer here with us since this concerns her, too.

"What's wrong?"

"I wasn't here when the new marines arrived, so I thought I'd get to know some of them. Team building and all that crap. So we got together earlier this evening at that make-shift bar. We didn't have the place all to ourselves, but we didn't care. It wasn't an official thing anyway." Seeing that Ronon was beginning to look impatient, Laura attempts to relay her story faster. "Long story short, I overheard one of the marines and what's-her-face…" Laura says as she tries to remember. Ronon's eyebrow lifts up. "That chiropractor, Charmaine… Che… Charlotte! That's her. Well I heard them talking."

"Which marine." An idea already forming in his head.

"You've probably seen him around. Semi-bald guy, thinks he's God's gift to women."

"Ruiz." Ronon says flatly.

"Yeah, him! How'd you know?" Laura asks.

"Wild guess. So what did you hear?"

"I take it you've both have had problems with these people." Ronon nods. "Okay well, I think they're just desperate pathetic people. Ruiz doesn't know me, and I don't think Charlotte knows that Jennifer and I are friends. Anyway, I think they're planning something."

"What makes you say that?" Ronon asks her as he finishes his sandwich off.

"Actually, I know for a fact that they're going to do something to break the two of you apart. I heard her mention red thongs and lipstick marks." Laura says confidently.

"Thongs? Lipstick?" A confused Ronon asks.

"Right, sometimes I forget that you're not from earth. She's planning to plant red underwear somewhere among your things, most likely in your quarters. I would suggest that you check underneath your bed or pillows or wherever it's discreet but also easy to find. Something that insinuates sexual intercourse or foreplay." Cadman says without humiliation.

"And then the lipstick mark… well you've seen Charlotte, she's always got that slut red lipstick on her mouth. Nothing wrong with slut red, I love using that color once in a while." Cadman quickly tells him with a smile. "But it's just that Jennifer never…"

"Uses color on her lips." He finishes for her. "Yeah, she uses this thing that comes out of the tube that tastes like peppermint and is a bit sticky."

"_Tastes _like peppermint?" Cadman repeats, smiling wide. "It's lip gloss. See that's what the lipstick mark is for. She'll probably try to put some on your clothes.

"What about Ruiz? What's his part in this?" Ronon asks her with a frown.

"I think the plan is for Jennifer to find these things so that she'll think you're seeing other girls, and being the way that she is, you know, non-confrontational, she'll let it go, or rather, let _you_ go, and Ruiz will be right there to comfort her. It's a classic home-wrecker scheme.

"When do you think this'll happen?" Ronon asks her.

"Most probably when you're off-world, like on a long mission. That way, when she finds all those things she's built up so much anger that she won't want to talk to you."

"I won't be going anywhere for more than a day anytime soon."

"Well that's good then. At least you guys won't get caught off guard." Laura says as she finishes her milk.

"We need to tell Jennifer. I think it would be best if you told her yourself. No, I change my mind. We should tell her together." Nodding to himself. "Yeah, tell her over breakfast tomorrow. By the way… what's foreplay?

TBC.

_Note: Okay, so I know that I promised you guys that there would be some ass-kicking. This kinda came to me while I was trying to write the ass-kicking scenes. Didn't want to put the two plots together since it seemed like they are both too significant and major. Hope you enjoyed, though. I promise that the next one will be total ass-kicking._

_And I labeled the timeline for the present A, B & C. didn't want to cause any confusion._


	24. Bonnie Gets Her Ass Kicked

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

_Note: Sorry guys, that was the whole point of the chapter… to confuse you. Kinda like a Jedi mind trick… only through words. Anyway, the whole point was to confuse you… but not with the timeline. The timeline is what it is. Don't worry, this chapter will clear everything up… and still be a tag to Trio. And a quick reply to __**flowerfairy30**__: you will get your as-kicking scene as promised, and on this very chapter._

_By the way, I'm going to ignore the whole 'Rodney and Keller beer date'. In my own little world, he never thought anything of it. Besides, in real life, convincing a guy to go and grab a beer with you does not mean you like him in __**that **__way, it could be coz you either don't have the cash to buy one or you're just friends. I have more guy friends than girlfriends. And they buy me drinks all the time without expecting anything back._

_And one more thing, I actually updated one of the paragraphs in the previous chapter. The one when Ronon goes into her room, unlocking it. I've never seen them punch in codes on the door sensors. So I figured that it must recognize their DNA or something. So that's what I'm going for: That their private quarters are activated with their DNA (but works like a regular door in the sense that if Jennifer and Ronon have their DNA encoded in the sensor, then they're the only ones able to unlock the door, but if the door is just closed, but unlocked, then anybody can activate the sensors), since the ancients' technology is almost always based on DNA._

_A Tag to Trio…_

"Two Coronas please." Rodney tells the bartender holding up his bandaged hand. The bartender just laughs at him, and slides down two uncapped bottles. Then turning to Jennifer, he asks her "By the way, how are we going to hold these." As he grabs one of the bottles with both his bandaged hands.

"Just like that." Jennifer says as she takes a drink. At the precise moment Ramon Ruiz comes up and hugs her from behind. "What the f…?!" Jennifer begins to say, as she jumps from her seat, knowing that it isn't who she wants hugging her because of the overwhelming smell of cologne enveloping her.

"Jenny, I heard about what happened to you. I was worried sick. Are you okay?" Ruiz says all in one breath. Rodney's face scrunched up, confused, as he looks around the bar, looking at the other people present if they're seeing the same thing as he is, and then looks back at Ruiz and Jennifer again. "Let me look at you." Ruiz says as he takes her hands in his.

"What the hell are you talking about, Ramon?! Worried sick…" She says disbelievingly as she shakes her head. "Go away!" She orders him with a wave of her bandaged hand.

"I _was _worried. Really." Ruiz pleads, moving to her side to get her attention.

"I don't care!" Jennifer growls out.

"But, Jennifer, I thought we were doing great. I sent you those flowers after you found out about Charlotte and that alien." Ruiz says pathetically.

"Those flowers went straight to the trash." Jennifer informs him as she takes a sip of her beer.

"Why? Why would you do that after everything I did for you?"

"You mean after every shitty thing you did _to_ me?"

"That's in the past." He says "I was there for you when you found out about that alien."

"For your information, _Clyde_, I'm still dating that _alien_, or did your partner, _Bonnie_, not tell you what really happened?" She tells him haughtily. "I suggest you look for her and ask her how your plan went right smack into her face, literally.

Ramon's look of confusion turns into fear as he looks beyond Rodney and Jennifer.

Jennifer and Rodney turn around to see John and Ronon walking towards them. Both of them wave a bandaged hand at the newcomers, silly smiles on their faces, a little bit tipsy from downing their beers in less than twenty minutes.

Before John and Ronon reach the two of them, Ramon walks away quickly and leaves the bar.

"Was he bothering you?" Ronon asks as he takes the seat beside Jennifer. Taking her bandaged hands in his and kisses her palms.

"Yes and no. He didn't know about what happened a month ago at the gym." Jennifer says as her eyes takes Ronon in. "I dunno how he could not have known. He's probably been off world so much."

"You didn't know?" John asks Jennifer. "Charlotte Griffith quit a week after the gym incident." John says as he takes a swig of his newly opened bottle of Heineken. "She couldn't wait for a decision from Col. Carter, whether she'd be sent back to earth or not."

"Really?" Jennifer asks, an incredulous look on her face. "Heh." She scoffs. "I guess she's not going to be a problem anymore." Lifting her arm to flex her muscles. Wiggling her eyebrows, all three men roar with laughter earning curious looks from the people around them.

**Flashback to a Month Ago:**

"Do you know who they're from?" Laura asks in a low voice, but loud enough for other people to be heard.

"No. But when I find out…" Jennifer says, letting her words trail off. As she strides back to his quarters to search some more. Cadman followers her to his room.

As the door slides shut, Jennifer throws herself on the bed, while Laura takes a seat on the floor leaning against the wall. They're both laughing hysterically.

When they both calm down, Jennifer sits up halfway, her forearms supporting her upper body. "I guess I'm gonna have to ask McKay to check how she was able to get in here. I don't want Charlotte coming here again."

""Hey, do you think the panties are used?" Cadman asks all of a sudden.

"I dunno. As soon as I saw them under his pillow, I just stuffed them in a Ziploc." Jennifer answers.

"And you just happened to have a Ziploc with you?" Cadman asks, laughing.

"I knew I was going to be in here for a while, so I grabbed a bag of grapes to snack on." She says with a shrug.

"So, did you find anything else?" Laura asks as she stands up and walks over to his closet looking inside.

"Nope. I organized this whole place from top to bottom. Nothing elde." Jennifer gets up from the bed to rearrange it. "How do you think she got in? I mean, she must have had some help."

"I'm pretty sure she was able to convince one of the technicians to override the codes. The question is 'who'." Cadman says as she paces the room, her head snaps back up. "I know. The fact that someone was in here without permission warrants an investigation. It's a security breach. Breaking and entering."

"I get what you're saying. But what proof do we have besides a pair of panties and lipstick on a shirt. I don't think that's going to be enough reason for Samantha to grant an investigation." Jennifer asks.

"Exactly… It's Samantha. It's not like she doesn't know about the two of you." Laura says confidently.

"Nah. I don't think she'll go for that." Jennifer says. "Wait. If we do ask McKay to look at the sensors, then he could probably see if someone did try to override the sensors. Over the week. Right?"

"I think so, just like a computer. Come on." Laura says as she opens the door.

Jennifer turns around to lock the door to Ronon's room. And in the far corner of the hall, Charlotte Griffith lurks, an evil smile on her face.

--

Rodney is sitting in his lab, working on his computer when both women barge in. "Rodney we need your help." Jennifer says, as she leans on the other side of his table.

"Nope. Too busy."

"Come on Rodney…" Laura croons. "We just need you to check Ronon's door sensor.

"Pretty please!" Jennifer joins in.

"Whatever for?" Rodney says, unable to resist.

"Somebody went inside his room and left some souvenirs. Nasty ones." Laura tells him.

"We just need you to find out who did the overriding. You can do that, right?" Jennifer asks.

"Of course I can do that!" Rodney says arrogantly. "What do I get in exchange?"

"Our gratitude." Jennifer says sweetly.

"Who left what anyway?" Rodney asks as he takes his computer tablet and walks out of his lab, both women flanking him.

"Charlotte Griffith." Jennifer whispers in his ear.

"Yeah? What'd she leave?" Rodney asks, getting more curious.

"Panties and a lipstick mark on his shirt, oh and strong perfume." Jennifer answers.

"Really?" Rodney's eyes widen at the image. "How come that sort of thing never happens to me?" He whines, earning him two backhanded slaps on his shoulders. "Ouch!"

--

"Someone definitely tampered with this." Rodney says as he puts back the crystal in the door sensor. "So what are we going to do about it?"

"We hold an investigation. A quiet one." Cadman says as she moves from her post from one end of the hallway, watching out for other people. "We can't let Charlotte and Ruiz know."

"Wait, how sure are you that these were planted?" Rodney says as he looks at an irritated Jennifer. "Don't get me wrong. The big ape would never cheat on you. But he could've been drunk or som… Ow!"

"First of all, Ronon would never do that to me, no matter how drunk he is." Jennifer says, sticking out her stubborn chin. "And second, Laura overheard the wicked witch of the west talking to Casanova."

"Casanova?" Rodney asks.

"Ruiz." Laura says.

"Aaah. When?"

"A little over a week ago. So we've been expecting it. Watching for little things here and there." Jennifer replies.

"How come I'm always the last to find out?" Rodney whines as they walk to the transporter.

--

All three of them and Samantha Carter are standing in front of one way mirrior watching Maj. Lorne interrogate Paul the technician.

"So tell me again how you know somebody broke into Ronon's room." Samantha asks Rodney.

Rodney simply pulls Jennifer in between him and Samantha, not wanting to answer her. "Uh... Rodney saw that somebody overrode the sensors, when he checked it out." She says to Sam.

"And why would Rodney be checking the door sensor to Ronon's quarters?" Samantha asks, as she crosses her arms in front of her chest.

"Random Checks, ma'am." Cadman offers.

"Right." Carter says disbelievingly, letting it go, thinking that there must be some personal reason behind this. She's actually amused by the whole thing. "This will take days."

"No it won't. Every group of computers has a distinct code. I was able to narrow that code that the sensor picked up to one specific group. So we only have about four people to investigate." Rodney says proudly. "And now we only have to investigate two more individuals since the other two were off world when Ronon's room was broken into."

--

In the opposite room. Maj. Lorne is standing on the other side of the table, gripping the back rest of the chair in front of him. "Do you know why, you're here?"

"No need to intimidate me, Major. I can tell you right now that I did it. I was the one who overrode the sensors to Ronon's room." Paul says dejectedly. "I did it for Charlotte Griffith. She asked me to unlock it for her because apparently she forgot something in his room, and needs to get whatever it is."

"Why'd you do it?" The major asks.

"She said that she and Ronon broke up. And that if I did this for her, she'd go out with me." He shrugs. "She's been ignoring me since then. I should've known."

"Okay, you can go now."

"_Oh, Major, ask him if he saw her take anything from the room. Or if he was even inside the room with her."_ Jennifer asks him through the comm.

"Before you leave, can you tell me if you were in the room with her? If she took anything from his room." Evan asks as he holds his hand up.

"No! No, no. I stood outside. She told me to stand guard." He says nervously. "But when she came out, she was carrying something. A small pouch." Looking from Lorne to the mirror, he asks. "What'll happen to me?"

"For the moment," Lorne says, as he straightens up. "Nothing. It'll be up to Col. carter."

When the door closes, leaving Lorne in the room alone, he faces the mirror and taps his comm. "That's it?! I was all set to go good cop, bad cop with thes guy."

"_To do that, you need another person in there with you. You can't be good and bad at the same time."_ Rodney says over the comm.

"I'm assuming you've never seen 'Primal Fear'." Lorne replies.

--

"Hi Teyla!" Jennifer says as she comes up behind Tyela in the gym.

"Jennifer." Teyla greets her with a smile as she turns around.

"I was wondering if I could join your training session today. I heard you're teaching them hand to hand combat."

"I am. But I thought you've already covered that with Ronon." Teyla asks her.

"We did. It's just that I figured since you can't do anything too strenuous, I could offer you my assistance." Jennifer tells her sweetly.

"You would?" Teyla's eyebrow lift up, looking at her skeptically. "What's going on, Jennifer."

"Fine. I'll come clean." Jennifer says with a defeated sigh.

--

"I don't think that that's such a good idea." Teyla says.

"Come on Teyla. I promise I wont hurt her… much." Jennifer pleads. "Besides, she stole something from Ronon's room. I intend to get it back."

"Can you not just ask her." Teyla says as she unconsciously rubs her belly. "You know, be civil about it. Tell her you know that she's been playing a trick on you."

"She's a desperate woman. She'll do anything to get Ronon. That's why I came here. Ya know." Jennifer says with a sheepish smile. "At least it's the gym, not the schoolyard."

"Fine. But don't hurt her too much." Teyla says as she finally gives in, not understanding the 'schoolyard' part.

--

"Okay everyone, I know I said that we'd be doing hand to hand combat today. Unfortunately Lt. Jameson is off-world today." Teyla says in front of the group of people in front of her. "But luckily I bumped into Dr, Keller today. She has some extra time to spare. You need to pair up equally. So please find a partner."

Without even making the first move, Jennifer is face to face with Charlotte Griffith who has chosen her as her partner, or rather opponent.

First, they all begin, following Teyla's instructions. Jennifer and Charlotte are glaring at each other. Finally, Teyla tells them to stop. And then asks the group who would like to volunteer. Almost immediately Charlotte and Jennifer raise their hands.

They both step onto the middle of the mat, while the rest of the group take their seats on the floor.

Circling each other around the mat, Charlotte makes the first move. As Charlotte charges at her, Jennifer ducks down just in time, sending Charlotte straight to the wall. Charlotte quickly turns around to grab Jennifer from behind, but she grabs Charlottes arms tightly and flips her over. Charlotte recovers and runs towards the bantos sticks, and waves one around like a lunatic, and then charges at Jennifer again, intending to hit her in the stomach with the blunt end. Jennifer counteracts by grabbing the other end and pushing it back to Charlotte, hitting her on the stomach. Charlotte doubles over.

Jennifer rushes towards her, concern etched in her face. "Oh my God, are you okay." She asks, as she bends down to look at Charlotte. Charlotte seizes the opportunity and slaps her hard in the face, causing Jennifer to fall on her ass. Jennifer's eyes widen. She gets up, and then does a swift kick, sweeping Charlotte's legs off the ground, landing on her back. Jennifer quickly lowers her knee onto Charlotte's neck. Then lowers her head and tells her. "I know all about your scheming ways, you bitch. I don't believe for a second that he would ever sleep with you." Taking her knee form Charlotte's neck, Jennifer stands up and says loudly. "This is over. This is where it all stops. I'm not playing with you anymore." Turning around to leave the Gym.

"Jennifer look out!" Teyla screams.

Jennifer flips the stick with her feet, and grabs it with both hands, turns around, ducks, jabs Charlotte in the belly again. And when Charlotte bends down, Jennifer throws her stick and knees Charlottes chest, and punches her square in the face when Charlotte straightens up.

Charlotte grabs her face. "My nose! You broke my nose!!"

"Serves you right!" Someone from the crowd shouts out.

"Whatever you took from Ronon's room better be in my hand in 10 minutes." Jennifer tells her.

"You can't prove that I took anything from him."

"Paul, the technician can testify to that, in fact, Maj. Lorne and Lt. Cadman are already standing right outside your quarters waiting for you." Jennifer replies.

Charlotte runs out of the gym, leaving a content Jennifer. The room which has filled up from spectators breaks out in applause.

--

**Back to the Present:**

Walking back to her quarters, Ronon's arm is around her shoulders. As they reach her room Ronon activates her door to unlock it. Stepping through the doors, Ronon heads straight for her closet, taking out pajamas for her and then sitting at the edge of her bed. He pulls her by the waist to stand in between his thighs. Unzipping her blouse, he helps her take it off over her head. Pulling her closer, he unhooks her bra with his fingers, just the way she taught him. Jennifer smiles at this. Peeling her bra away, he pulls her closer so he can kiss the valley between her breasts. Then he takes her pajama top and pulls it over her head. Then his hands move to her pants to unzip it. Pulling it down over her hips, down to her feet. Jennifer grabs his shoulders for support as she lifts her leg one by one as he removes her pants. Ronon looks up at her as he presses a hot, damp kiss on her mound through her cotton underwear. Jennifer sighs. Grabbing the pajama bottom, Ronon helps her get into them. As he gets up he slides his palm from the side of her hips to her back, pulling her close and giving her a long passionate kiss.

Lifting her up in his arms, he puts her arms around his neck so he can pull back the blanket. Perching on the bed, he carefully lays a drunk Jennifer on her bed. Then grabs her discarded clothes and throws them in the hamper. Remembering that Jennifer had left the soiled clothes she was wearing when they were trapped in the bathroom, he goes inside to retrieve them. As he's about to put them in the basket, Jennifer rolls over and says "Ronon, wait, the pocket in my pants. The back pocket." Ronon unflaps the back pocket and sees a tiny pouch. One that was his at one point. "I always put it back in the pouch and bring it with me when I go off world. That way I never lose it." Ronon turns the pouch over, catching a bracelet with stones that resemble diamonds. Putting it back in the pouch, Ronon places it on her nightstand. Laying beside Jennifer and pulling the blanket over them. As he's spooning her, she says "Did I ever thank you for the bracelet?"

"Yes. many times." He says with a smile.

TBC.

_Note: So there you go guys. I'm not very good with fight scenes. I'm a lover not a fighter.:) But hey, at least we now know what sent Charlotte Griffith fleeing from the Pegasus Galaxy. So I hope this chapter cleared things up for you guys. _


	25. A Kiss for Good Luck

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

_Note: Sorry it took so long again. I know I said that I'm over the whole McKeller thing. I lied. I'm not. But hey... it's fanfiction._

_A Tag to Midway..._

At the SGC, in a very small room, Ronon is waiting for the IOA to interview him. Reaching in his pocket, Ronon pulls out a pouch. Taking the object from inside, he lifts it up to kiss it for luck and places it back inside the pouch. He patiently waits for the IOA.

**Flashback to the Day Ronon and Sheppard Get back from Earth:**

After Jennifer tells him how she beat up Charlotte Griffith, She pulls out a pouch that he recognized. The pouch held some tiny stones. He remembers getting them when they were visiting one of the planets they were exploring. A street vendor was selling them. They reminded him of the twinkle in Jennifer's eyes. Sheppard saw him with the stones and mentioned that one of the lab technicians could probably find a way to encrust them into a bracelet.

Going to earth gave him the excuse to buy something for Jennifer. When they came back from earth, Ronon set it on her side table, hoping to surprise her. But when she whipped out the pouch from her pocket to show him the pouch, he suddenly remembered John's suggestion.

"I didn't look inside." Jennifer said, as she looks at his shocked expression.

Ronon sobers up and nods, taking the pouch from her, not seeing the hurt look on her face. "Why don't you go on ahead to the mess hall, Sheppard and the others should be there already. I just need to do something really quick." Leaving her standing there, confused.

Ronon goes back to her room to retrieve the rectangular box. Shoving it inside one of his pants' side pockets he makes a run for the mess hall. When he gets there Jennifer's quiet. After dinner he tries to talk to her.

"Hey, you okay?"

"I'm fine." Jennifer says curtly.

"You don't look fine."

"I'm tired. That's all."

After walking her back to her quarters, Ronon goes to Sheppard to ask for advice.

"What'd you do?"

"I dunno. One minute she's telling me how she kicked Charlotte's ass, the next, she's giving me the cold shoulder." Ronon explains.

"Was there something you said or did after the story?" Sheppard asks.

"No. I mean, she pulled out a pouch that Charlotte stole from my room. She said she didn't look inside. So I took it from her. Then I told her to go to the mess hall and I'd catch up."

"I'm guessing you never showed her what was inside." Sheppard assumed.

"Nope."

"Then it's simple. She was hurt that you didn't tell her what's inside." John says as he takes a swig from his beer. "Girls are sensitive. Girls like the doc."

Nodding at this, Ronon asks him about the technician who can help him with the bracelet he bought from earth.

The next two days were hell for him and Jennifer. He wanted to surprise her with the bracelet, so in doing so he couldn't explain why he didn't show her what was in the pouch. They both avoided each other. Jennifer kept herself busy with work, while he sparred with John and the other marines.

Then the time came for him to pick up the bracelet from O'Connor, who was able to take the bracelet and encrust it with stones on the 1/8" thick plate, and laser in the phrase Ronon asked him to engrave.

Jennifer had just gotten back from off-world when she spots Ronon leaning on the wall, waiting for her at the gate room. She looks tired and a bit dusty. Not wanting to ignore him anymore, Jennifer walks towards him and lets him envelop her in a big hug. He kisses her forehead and guides her through the hallway to the living quarters. As they reach her room, she notices that it's different. With the help of Teyla, he had set up Jennifer's room for dinner for two on a low table with pillows all around. It's covered with a beautifully woven material used as a table cloth, laden with fruits picked from the mainland, scattered petals from an unknown flower, a bottle of wine, and two goblets, pasta, specially cooked by Atlantis' chef, and something covered in cloth tied with twine. There are randomly placed candles all over for a romantic effect and on her side table a cyan colored rectangular box with a white ribbon wrapped around it.

Turning to look at Ronon, Jennifer smiles and says "For me? You did all this for me?" Ronon just nods as he looks into her eyes intently. She stands on tiptoe to kiss him fully on the lips. She sighs then pulls away, realizing that he had wrapped his arms around her waist. "I don't want to ruin this moment. I think I need to take a shower first, then we can eat." And as if by command, her stomach lets out a big growl. "Or not." Ronon just smiles and helps her take off her jacket. They both lower themselves to sit on the floor and eat. As they finish off the wine, Ronon hands her the cloth covered object. Unwrapping it enthusiastically, Jennifer finds a small curved knife in a leather sheath. Ronon's a bit worried that she might not like it, but then sees her the corner of her mouth lifting. Jennifer looks at him and says "Thank you. I guess this means you're going to have to spend some more time with me, teaching me how to use this."

"That's the whole point." Ronon answers. Getting up he holds out his hand to her. Jennifer grabs his hand with both hers as he pulls her up against him. Kissing her forehead. He then shoves her lightly towards the bathroom.

When she steps in, she sees that he has also placed candles in there, mostly around the tub, that's filled with bubbles. She tests the water and it's still warm. Ronon says "I drew the bath for you right before you got through the gate." He moves closer to her, reaches behind her head to let her hair free of the ponytail. He then unbuckles her belt and unzips her pants, pulling them down to her feet. Jennifer sighs. Stepping out of her pants, she kicks it to the side. Ronon straightens up again, bends down to kiss her bare shoulder before he lifts her arms up over her head to peel her sexy black tank top away from her, leaving her in her black cotton panty and bra. He takes a step back to look at her appreciatively. Jennifer blushes at this and tries to cross her arms over herself. Ronon just shakes his head no. Pulling her against him he kisses her deeply. Her eyes flutter down, but her hands are pulling against the hem of his shirt, wanting to feel his naked skin. Ronon voluntarily lifts his arms arm as she takes away his tunic. Her hands fall back to his shoulders, then trail down further, her palms lightly grazing his nipples, sending a shiver down his spine and causing him to groan. With that, Ronon unbuckles his belt and takes off his pants. She's not surprised that he's already naked and not wearing any form of underwear. She presses closer, and he can't take it anymore. Ronon pulls down her panty then unclasps her bra and lets it fall at their feet. Her breasts are at level with his upper abdomen, but still it sends tingles all over both of them. Her nipples are already hard from the contact. Ronon's hands find her breasts and squeezes, his thumbs grazing her nipples, eliciting a moan from her. He places his other hand behind her as he bends her backwards, giving him easy access to her beautiful mounds. Bending his head, he takes one mound into his mouth sucking and licking, while he gently kneads the other one. She gasps. After a few minutes, he turns his attention to the other one, while his hand moves down to her belly. Slowly making his way further down, touching her hip, then her thighs. His hand moves to her inner thighs. Jennifer is whimpering now, making tiny sounds, writhing, knowing and not knowing what he would do next. Ronon's hands are moving up and down her inner thighs, getting closer to her heat, his erection straining against her right thigh. His thumb lightly touches her folds, Jennifer gasps, causing her to cup his ass cheek, and her other hand reaches for his throbbing manhood. Groaning, Ronon almost lets himself go, but seeing the look on her face, he restrains himself. He finally cups her. Rubbing her hairless mound. His middle finger pressing against her, but not exactly entering.

Jennifer can't take it anymore, she squeezes his shaft and pleads "Ronon…" This is his undoing. Lifting his head from in between her breasts, Ronon captures her lips. As his tongue plunges in her mouth, he inserts his middle finger inside her. Swallowing her cry. His finger is sliding in and out of her. Pressing against the walls of her vagina. His thumb brushes against her clit. At this, Jennifer lifts up one leg to hook over his hip, opening herself up to him, giving him a more room to insert another finger inside. As he inserts the second finger, Jennifer digs her nails onto his ass and strokes his balls, making him groan. Feeling her contractions, Ronon speeds up his stroking, curving his fingers inside her to find that spot, and rubbing a little harder on her clit. He can feel her coming. Increasing his speed as she meets the thrust of his fingers, lets go of her lips to let her cry out as she convulses. "Aaaah!" His arm still supporting her, he pulls her against him to prevent her from falling to the ground. Pulling his fingers from inside her, she watches him lick off her juice from both of his fingers, hardening her nipples again and her eyes glaze over.

Lifting her from the ground, he carries her over to the tub. Setting her on her feet, they lower themselves onto to the tub. She's laying on top, her back to him. Grabbing her peppermint shampoo he rubs her hair, and massages her scalp. Takes the nozzle and rinses her beautiful hair washing the suds away. He takes a soft loofah to wash her. Pushing her away from him, he washes her back, kissing her spine at the same time. Jennifer's hugging her knees, relishing in the feel of his callused fingers on her skin. Pulling her back against him her breasts are above water, he rubs the loofah over them and at the same time pinches her nipples. Jennifer reaches around her and clamps her hands around his neck. Lowering his head, he nibbles on her shoulder. His other hand moves down under the water, finding her slick folds. He strokes her, slowly then faster with every moan and gasp she release, then sending her over the edge. Jennifer turns her head to kiss his temple, and whispers "I want you, Ronon. Now!"

Standing up, he carries her to the bedroom. Both still wet, with soap suds sliding down their body. She's clinging on to him, breathing hard, they fall onto the bed, she's on top of him. And then he stops. "Wait."

"What's wrong?" She asks, panic and confusion evident in her eyes.

Caressing her cheek, he smiles at her, leaning to his side he reaches over to the bedside and hands her the cyan-colored box.

"Another present?" Jennifer asks with a smile. He just nods.

Untying the ribbon, she opens the box and a rolled-up pouch falls out. Looking at the pouch, she recognizes it as the one that was stolen from his room. The one with contents that he did not reveal to her. Her eyes soften even more. Looking inside she sees something shiny. Then she sees it. An I.D. bracelet. Encrusted with diamonds.

"The stones were something I traded for in another planet. They remind me of your eyes. When Sheppard and I went to earth I was able to get this bracelet. He said I could have one of the technicians here put in the stones. Turn it over." He said.

A simple _"I'll love you forever, Jennifer." _Engraved in the inside of the plate. A tear falls down on his belly. He sees tears slowly sliding down her cheeks. She looks at him lovingly, cupping his jaw, she lowers her mouth to kiss him. Then slightly pulls away to lightly rub her nose with his. "I'll love you forever, too, Ronon." Pulling away, she shows him her wrist and gives him the bracelet. Taking the chain from her he fastens it on her delicate wrist and kisses the inside.

Jennifer pulls him up to sit, she's straddling him, her legs bent at the knees on either side of his torso. She's sitting on his thighs, his stiff shaft trapped between her belly and his. Setting her hands on his shoulders, Jennifer brushes his dreads away, lowers her mouth and sucks on his skin. His hands are sliding up and down her back. She nibbles on his shoulder, then licks her way up his throat to his mouth. Sucking harder on his bottom lip, then moving to his cheek and catches his lobe. She swirls her tongue around inside his ear, making him groan. He squeezes her ass and pushes her against his penis. Jennifer lowers her knees to the bed and rocks her hips against him, making him groan louder with each motion. "Baby, I want you so much." He pleads with her.

Jenifer answers "I want you, too Ronon. Make love to me!" Flipping her on her back. On their own accord, her legs wrap around him. She's thrusting her hips upwards, silently telling him to take her. He takes her hands up over her head, to lock them in place. Ronon reaches down to her, testing her, to see if she's ready.

She's ready. She's hot and wet. And she's pushing against his hand. Whimpering. Ronon lets go of her hands. "Let me in, Jennifer." At the same time, Ronon grabs her hips, while Jennifer holds his thick shaft, the tip covered in pre-cum. She guides him inside her, Ronon pulls her hips towards him. His thick manhood stretching the walls of her vagina. He slowly enters her. She winces. He stops. "Are you okay, baby?" She nods, and digs her heels onto his back. Seeing this as a sign to go on, he thrusts in completely. He stops for a bit to let her get comfortable with his size, then when he feels her move her hips in a circle, he takes it as a cue. He thrusts in and out of her. Slowly at first. He can feel the tension build up inside both of them. They're both moaning now. Increasing the speed of his thrust, Ronon grabs onto her hips. She's meeting every thrust. She's close. He's close. They both want to cum together. He reaches down to rub and pinch her clitoris. She gasps, and he growls. They scream each other's names. They reach their climax. He collapses, but is careful not to crush her.

When they both calm down, Ronon, rolls them both over to their side, spooning her. "I'm sorry. I didn't have one of those rubber things."

"A condom?" She asks.

"Yeah. I didn't want to use one. I don't want to use one. Not on you." He tells her as he squeezes her. "I want you. Forever. I want to see you pregnant with my baby." And then quietly he adds. "But that that's only if you want the same thing."

Turning around in his arms. Jennifer smiles at him and kisses him on the lips. "I want the exact same thing. I want you. Forever."

**Back to Present:**

Ronon has checked every place he could think of, but still hasn't found Jennifer. He checked the infirmary, their balcony and her room. Nothing. Finally, he goes to his room. There he sees a tiny lump beneath his blankets. He already knows what it is. Or rather who it is. Taking his shirt off and pants, Ronon slides in behind her and pulls her tightly against him, taking in her familiar scent. Jennifer turns in his arms. Under the moonlight shining through his window he can see that she had been crying. Kissing her eyelids, he tells her that he missed her.

"I'm assuming you were on your best behavior with the IOA." Jennifer says to him in a near whisper.

"I had to. I had something to come home to... finally."

TBC.

_Note: Okay, so now you guys know how she got the bracelet. I know it's a bit confusing. I, myself, have been confused at times. That's why even before I began these stories I made a diagram. So the bracelet was given to her after he got back from earth with Sheppard after the funeral. It was in the rectangular box. But it didn't have the stones yet._


	26. Home Is Where You Are

_**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.**_

_Sorry it took a long time. I had to make a decision. To either continue making tags or just ending it with an epilogue. I'm finding it hard to squeeze some Ronon and Keller loving within the existing episodes… especially with the love triangle. And I'd also like to wait til they actually make her choose._

_So I have decided to make this the last chapter to this story. So here goes. I hope you enjoy this chapter._

_This is not a tag to anything…_

**Three years later:**

"And I now pronounce you husband and wife… You may kiss the bride." Col. Caldwell says to the happy couple.

John Sheppard pulls Teyla towards him and kisses her square on the mouth, dipping her backwards for a more dramatic effect. A big round of applause erupts around them as they stand in front of the stargate. It's they're wedding day. And after only two months of preparation and several years of denial they finally exchanged vows. Ronon and Jennifer stand beside them, holding hands. John and Teyla have already gone through the Athosian bonding ceremony two days before.

Torren, now three years old, drops the pillow that held the wedding rings and flings himself at John. As John catches him Torren whispers to Teyla "Now can I call him daddy?" John squeezes him tight and kisses his forehead, Teyla just nods and smiles lovingly at the men in her life.

As they walk down the parted crowd they hear a thump behind them. Turning around they see Ronon supporting a slumped and very pregnant Jennifer. Swinging her up in his arms he heads straight for the infirmary. Teyla and John, with Torren in his arms, walk behind him trying to keep up. Behind them is Rodney who is radioing the on-duty doctor to prep a bed for Dr. Keller.

"Is she going to be okay, daddy?" Torren asks John.

"Yeah, she's just about to give birth." John reassures him "Hey, pretty soon, you'll have another playmate."

--

Ronon bursts out of the delivery room with a big smile on his face. "A girl! We have a girl!" Looking around, he spots his one year old son, Marcus being held by Teyla. Reaching out, he takes his son from her and beckons them to follow him to Jennifer. As they reach her bed, he sets Marcus on the bed by Jennifer's legs and whispers to him to be careful with his mother. They find Jennifer slightly drowsy, cradling her baby girl.

"Hey! How ya feeling?" John asks her.

"Pretty good. It was easier this time… she's not as big as Marcus was." Looking at Teyla. "I am so sorry about this… I ruined your wedding."

"You did not. We've already said our vows. twice." Teyla answers her with a smile.

"Mother… why's the baby's face red?" Torren asks, his nose scrunched up, as he sits by Marcus on the bed.

"All newborn babies are like that, sweetheart." Teyla answers him.

"So what are you naming him?" Sam, who came from Earth to attend the wedding, asks.

Jennifer looks at Ronon then smiles and turns back to look at her daughter. "Well, since she was conceived when we were on our second honeymoon, we'd like to name her Anastasia… Asia."

"Why not just name her China or something?" Rodney asks as he's playing with Asia's tiny fingers.

"Coz we're not exactly sure in which Asian country she was conceived." He replies with a naughty grin.

"Oh!" Rodney says, his face beet-red.

"Ok… too much information!" Sam blurts out. "Well aside from my coming here to attend the wedding, I'm also here to give you the good news."

"Lemme guess! You're back to heading the Atlantis expedition!" John says. Richard Woolsey, who has been silently congratulating Ronon, looks up with a hurt look on his face.

"I'm just kidding…" Sheppard says sheepishly.

"Nope." Sam replies. "The president believes that since you've defeated the Wraith and Michael everyone has the option to stay here in the Pegasus galaxy or go back to Earth. Whatever your decision, we will be building a new city on the mainland."

"Wow, so does that mean we're actually letting earth know of the existence of the Stargate?" Rodney says.

"Yup. We still have to figure out how to break the news. But yeah, no more secrets." Sam tells him.

"Cool." John adds. "So do we get to pick our own spot? Coz there's this little spot with a pond that's perfect for…"

"I just wanted to give you a heads up… we'll be doing this formally. This is not going to be first come first serve basis." Sam interrupts, but seeing the dejected look on John's face, she adds "But every representative of every government has agreed that the Atlantis Expedition Team gets first priority."

"I hate to break this… but I want some alone time with my wife and our kids." Ronon says as he claps Johns back and shakes his hand. "Congratulations, John… took you long enough."

"Thanks, buddy." Turning to pick up Torren.

Before he's lifted from the bed, Torren kisses the baby's cheek, and then says "Bye, Uncle Ronon, Aunt Jennifer."

"Bye sweetie." Jennifer says with a smile. Teyla squeezes her fingers and then turns to John and grabs his hand.

--

As everyone leaves them with their kids, she scoots to the left side of the bed and lifts the corner of her blanket for Ronon to slide in. Marcus crawls over to his dad and falls asleep on his chest from the excitement of the day. Ronon's arm slips around her shoulders as Jennifer turns her head towards Ronon, lifting her chin.

Bending down to catch her lips with his own, he swallows her sigh. Pulling away from her slightly, he asks her "So, what do you think? Are we staying? We can always go back to Earth. I know how much you miss your home."

"Home is where you are." Jennifer answers with love in her eyes.

The End!

So here you go... that's the last of it. I hope you enjoyed the story. I appreciate all the comments you've left me. Thanks!


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